Betty Woodman and George Woodman’s Celebration of Ceramics in East Sussex

Ceramics, paintings, photography, and radical assemblages collide in Betty Woodman and George Woodman’s first exhibition since the artists’ deaths.

Betty Woodman and George Woodman (25 March–10 September 2023) at Charleston East Sussex, illuminates the American artists’ enduring creative partnership.

Married for almost 60 years, the Woodmans met when they were young and began their lives together as partners and artists. In 1968, they discovered a beautiful, run-down Tuscan farmhouse in Antella, Italy, where they would spend part of every year for the rest of their lives. The house and experience of staying in Antella informed much of the duo’s thinking.

Charleston, the modernist home and studio of painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, is another place where art and life come together. Unsurprisingly, the exhibition highlights the cross-pollination between the Woodmans’ work, calling attention to the pair’s kindred palettes, matching sources of inspiration, and dedication to creative experimentation.

Pastel hues and patterns borrowed from European mosaics and Turkish floor tiles emerge in works like George’s Tiles (1981) and Canova Museum (2010), and Betty’s Aztec Vase and Carpet: April (2016) and Wallpaper 19 (2017). The breadth of style, material, and surprising uses of colour demonstrate the artists’ commitment to expanding the boundaries of art.

Main image: Betty Woodman, Night Window (2016). Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, acrylic paint, canvas, wood. 176 x 202.5 x 26.7 cm. © Woodman Family Foundation, DACS, London. Courtesy Woodman Family Foundation, New York.