Background
He was born in Stratford, New Zealand in 1936.
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James Greig
Edit ProfileEducation
He studied at Wellington Technical College and went on to Auckland University to study architecture. An encounter with the work of potter Len Castle encouraged him to take up pottery, and he attended Castle"s evening classes for three years before moving to the Northland Region in 1961 to set up a pottery studio.
Career
He developed a strong relationship with Len Castle and was influenced by his work. Between 1964 and 1967, he became the resident potter in charge of the art and design centre at Massey University in Palmerston North. In 1968 he moved to Greytown in the Wairarapa and set up his own studio.
In 1978, a QEII Arts Council grant allowed him to travel to Japan where he studied the techniques of Japanese potters and developed strong connections with the pottery community, becoming particularly influenced by potter Kawai Kanjirō.
Greig also travelled to of Korea, Thailand, Nepal, Mexico and the United States of America during this trip. In 1982, he was awarded a Japan Foundation Fellowship to spend a year living, working and studying in Japan.
During this year, he was invited to exhibit in the highly regarded Tachibana Ten exhibition. He also exhibited work at Akasaka Green Gallery in Tokyo in 1983 and 1985.
He was made a Cultural Ambassador by the New Zealand Government in 1986.
In 1986 he exhibited over 200 pieces of his work in the Tachikichi Department store in Kyoto. The day the exhibition, Greig had a heart attack and died in his hotel room. Curated by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Dowse Art Museum, a definitive New Zealand retrospective exhibition will feature works from his private collection, which have never before been shown publicly, and is scheduled for November 2016.
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Born
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Died
1986 (aged 50) -
Nationality
New Zealand