Hylton Nel was born in 1941 in N’kana, Zambia, and now lives and works on the outskirts of Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo.

Nel describes himself as an 'artist-potter', which aptly refers to his interest in painted imagery as well as form and function. Over the past five decades he has developed a style of work that is rich in references to the decorative arts and literary and art historical sources. His plates, bowls, vases, plaques and figurative pieces are idiosyncratically decorated with witty - and sometimes poignant - line drawings and script. His imagery ranges from penises to Madonnas, cats to angels, and his quotes are drawn from poetry and the daily press as well as his observations of the world around him.

Things Made Over Time is Nel’s sixth solo show at Stevenson, following Bowls in Johannesburg (2022). His work has been the subject of various survey exhibitions, including This plate is what I have to say in Charleston, East Sussex, UK (2023); Hylton Nel at 80,  Fine Art Society, London, UK (2021) and Hylton Nel: Retrospective Exhibition at the Standard Bank National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, which travelled to the Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg; Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery, University of the Free State and King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth (2001-2002). Other notable solo shows include Hylton Nel: For Use and Display, The Fine Art Society, London (2017); New Ceramics by Hylton Nel, The Fine Art Society, London, UK (1997); Hylton Nel - A Prayer for Good Governance, The Fine Art Society, London, UK (1996); and Gay Rights Re-Writes, Gertrude Posel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (1986).

Group exhibitions include Twenty at Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2018); Unorthodox, at the Jewish Museum, New York (2015-2016); The Magic of Clay at gl Holtegaard, Denmark (2011); Art in Clay  at IS Art, Franschhoek (2014; 2011); The Birthday Party  at the Flow Gallery, London (2012; 2009); 1970-1990: A Legacy at the AVA Gallery, Cape Town (2011); The Discerning Eye  at The Mall Galleries in London (2007); Table Manners: Contemporary international ceramics  at the Crafts Council Gallery in London (2006), and To Hold  at the Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin (2006) as well as Stevenson (2018-2023). Nel was the Festival Artist at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn in 2009. 

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