LUCINDA MUDGE
(b. 1979, Knysna, South Africa)

Lucinda Mudge is a contemporary South African artist working primarily in the medium of ceramics. After graduating from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town (1997­-2000), she spent the following years between Cape Town and the UK before moving to Keurboomstrand, Plettenberg Bay, where she now lives and works.

Mudge’s extraordinary vases captivate the eye with their rich colours and intricate detail. Yet beneath their glimmering surfaces is a familiar world simmering with paranoia and tension.

Both a visual and a socio ­political record, her collection of vases draws inspiration from a wide variety of references, including cartoons, pop songs, fabric designs and Art Deco vase patterns, resulting in whimsical collisions of the popular and refined, the mundane and elevated, the violent and the beautiful.

This range of contemporary and historical sources merges to present a complex narrative familiar to many South Africans. Using hand­ mixed glazes and stains, and produced painstakingly slowly over the period of a full year, each piece is as unique as the narrative it tells. Themes, images and text are repeated and reshuffled, embodying in their very fabric humanity’s ability to carry contradictory impulses simultaneously.

The choice of the vase as a canvas is not without significance. Commonly a functional household object, the vase has a presence that is genuinely welcoming and affirming, a familiar object that is usually intended for the home.

Lucinda Mudge has work in major corporate and private collections nationally and internationally, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Guernsey, the Netherlands, Italy and Russia. Lucinda’s work was recently exhibited at the Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, as part of the exhibition Making Africa (2015).

Her work is included in the following publications: African Generation, the power of design published by Languages du sud (2019). Making Africa - A Continent of Contemporary Design, (2015); The Bauhaus: #itsalldesign, published by Vitra Design Museum, edited by Mateo Kries, Jolanthe Kugler (2015) and VASE: Function Reviewed, curated by Brian Kennedy, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland (2016).

Upcoming Solo Show | June 2024 | REGISTER INTEREST

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023
All is Well, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

2021
Everything All The Time, Everard Read, London, UK
LUCINDA MUDGE | NOTHING'S EVER ENOUGH, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

2019
Love Story, Everard Read Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Hello Pretty Girl, Everard Read Johannesburg, South Africa
Space is The Place, Everard Read Franschhoek, South Africa

2018
ETERNITY BAM!, Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Represented by Everard Read/CIRCA Cape Town, CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

2017
The Wolf Is Always Near, Everard Read Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Solo Exhibition, Everard Read Franschhoek, South Africa

2016
New Work, Agapanthus, Cape Town, South Africa
Kill You Eat You, Circa on Jellicoe, Johannesburg, South Africa

2015
Take What You Want, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna, South Africa

2014
Lasers in The Jungle, The Gallery at Grande Provence, Franschhoek, South Africa

2013
The White Tiger and Other Stories, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna, South Africa

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2022
Winter 2022|23, Everard Read, London, UK
Ancestors and Dreams in African Art, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa

2021
Winter 2021|22, Everard Read, London, UK
The Absolutely Fabulous Spring Show: A Group Exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 
Offering, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa
Summer Show, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa
IMAGO, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa
On Being, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa
Journeys of the Mind, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

2020
Winter 2020|21, Everard Read, London, UK
Against Interpretation, Everard Read, London, UK
Staring Straight to the Future, Everard Read, London, UK
PINK: Art Joburg Group Exhibition, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa
TINY2020, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 
Summer | A Group Show, Everard Read, Franschhoek, South Africa

2019
Summer 2019, Everard read, London, UK
MAKING AFRICA, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas

2018
MAKING AFRICA, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
MAKING AFRICA, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

2017
Cape Town Art Fair, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
MAKING AFRICA, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands

2016
1:54 Art Fair London, Everard Read Gallery, London, United Kingdom
VASE - Function Reviewed, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
FNB Johannesburg Art Fair, Everard Read/Circa Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
MAKING AFRICA, CCCB Barcelona, Spain
Transmutation, Knysna Fine Art, Knysna, South Africa

2015
MAKING AFRICA, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain
MAKING AFRICA, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Switzerland
KKNK, Oudshoorn, South Africa

PUBLICATIONS:
Making Africa - A Continent of Contemporary Design, (2015) edited by Mateo Kries, Amelie Klein
The Bauhaus: #itsalldesign, published by Vitra Design Museum, edited by Mateo Kries, Jolanthe Kugler (2015)
VASE: Function Reviewed, by Brian Kennedy, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland (2016)