James (Jim) Greig (New Zealand) ceramics

James (Jim) Greig was a New Zealand ceramic artist born in 1936. He originally studied architecture at Auckland University but became interested in pottery after meeting Len Castle. Greig attended Castle's evening classes for three years before moving to Northland to set up his own pottery studio. He went on to become the resident potter in charge of the art and design centre at Massey University before setting up his own studio in Greytown in 1968.

In 1978, Greig was granted a QEII Arts Council grant, which allowed him to travel to Japan, where he studied the techniques of Japanese potters and developed strong connections with the pottery community. He was awarded a Japan Foundation Fellowship in 1982 and spent a year living, working and studying in Japan. During this year, he exhibited in the highly regarded Tachibana Ten exhibition and at the Akasaka Green Gallery in Tokyo. Greig more... was made a Cultural Ambassador by the New Zealand Government in 1986. He exhibited over 200 pieces of his work at the Tachikichi Department store in Kyoto that same year, but unfortunately suffered a heart attack and passed away in his hotel room on the day of the exhibition.

Greig's works are held in the collections of several museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, The Dowse Art Museum, in Lower Hutt the Japanese Imperial household and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. In 2016, Te Papa acquired 23 pieces from the artist's estate, and a survey of Greig's work, James Greig: Defying Gravity, including many pieces not previously exhibited, opened at The Dowse Art Museum in December 2016. less...