His Own Steam

Overview

Potter extraordinaire, conservationist, railway enthusiast, and iconoclast, Barry Brickell is one of New Zealand’s most important ceramicists and this work celebrates his work through essays on his work and a comprehensive chronology that further illuminates his achievements. One of the leaders of the New Zealand Anglo-Oriental pottery movement that developed from the 1950s, Brickell has shaped both his own domestic ware and the wider pottery culture for more than 50 years. His exuberant and elemental pots and sculptures, which pulse with a sense of humor and sexuality rare in New Zealand craft or art, are on full display in this with a range of newly commissioned photos and historic images. A must have for art, craft, and pottery lovers, this book encapsulates the many talents of one of New Zealand’s most prized artists.

Reviews

"[T]his well-researched and attractively illustrated book gives the reader a timely insight into the life and works of this relatively unknown expatriate New Zealand artist and illustrator."  —Art News New Zealand on A Micronaut in the Wide World

"Graham Percy was a lovely man with a never-ending joy and delight in detail. This is the book he deserved. Perhaps more a collection of thoughtful essays than biography, it nonetheless richly fills in the life of the artist who made the extraordinary drawings that rollick around on its pages."  —Hamish Keith, Metro, on A Micronaut in the Wide World

"The book is witty and moving, chapters are short, well-written muses on particular scenes in the artist’s life, and there are an abundance of illustrations to lose oneself in."  —Emma Morris, Block, on A Micronaut in the Wide World

"O’Brien’s description of Percy and Mahr’s art as a type that ‘has a rare capacity to accommodate innocence and wonder without excluding knowledge, history and intelligence’ could equally be applied to both Back and Beyond and A Micronaut in the Wide World."  —Jamie Hanton, Landfall Online

"This book is an easy, charming delight"  —Matt Bowler, Nelson Mail, on A Micronaut in the Wide World

"The book itself is attractive, its glossy pages give a pleasing weight, in more ways than one, to the cavalcade of imagery which dominates the text."  —Stella Ramage, NZ Books, on A Micronaut in the Wide World

"A Micronaut in the Wide World deeply enriched my understanding of this artist's life and work."  —Gavin Mclean, Otago Daily Times, on A Micronaut in the Wide World

Author Biography

David Craig is an associate professor at the University of Otago who has a PhD from the Australian National University and has taught sociology at the University of Queensland and the University of Auckland. He has spent extensive time interviewing Barry Brickell and editing his writing and he is a cocurator of the Barry Brickell Retrospective Exhibition at the Dowse Art Museum, New Zealand. Gregory O’Brien is a celebrated poet, essayist, painter, anthologist, and art curator who won the 2012 Prime Minister’s Award for nonfiction and is an Arts Foundation Laureate of New Zealand. His recent books include Beauties of the Octagonal Pool, Hanly, and A Micronaut in the Wide World.