Making Emmanuel Cooper - David Horbury

Emmanuel Cooper led a remarkable life, as a ceramicist, artist, writer and activist. When he died in 2012 he let behind not only an extraordinary body of work but also an archive that illuminated both the story of his life and career but also the lives of the other potters, artists and activists with whom he had been friends.

His life was also emblematic of a particular time and place and of Britain's complex class culture. He was born to a working-class family in a Derby mining village and was aware early on in his life that he didn't fit into locally portrayed ideas of masculinity. His interest in art and crafts set him further apart from his peers but led him to London and its art colleges and a space in which he could be a gay man. His work with ceramics was widely celebrated and he wrote numerous books about pottery; both the technical challenges and also other potters, notably Bernard Leach.

This book draws on his own memoirs and writings to present a portrait of a man who lived through the challenges of a rapidly changing London and fought for the rights of gay liberation while developing his own artistic practice and teaching others.

Hardback. 336 pages.

Measurements:

16.4cm x 24.1cm x 3cm