Clare Goodwin
Clare Goodwin (b. 1973, Birmingham, UK) is a Zurich-based artist whose practice combines geometric precision with the principles of hard-edge abstraction, spanning painting, ceramics, and assemblage. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, London, Goodwin has lived and worked in Zurich since 2001. Her work delves into themes of social histories, personal narratives, and gender stereotypes, exploring the complexities of identity and the societal constructs that shape individual experience. Goodwin describes her artistic research as ‘Constructive Nostalgia,’ integrating elements of interior design and fashion from the recent past into her work, which she develops into constructivist systems with a near-futuristic, utopian vision.
At the core of her practice is a distinctive visual language and precise colour scheme that reflects personal and found objects with abstracted depictions of domestic interiors. In her paintings, Goodwin constructs nonfigurative, minimalist interior compositions; in her assemblages and ceramics, she juxtaposes pre-owned furniture with hand-built ceramic pieces to create three-dimensional reliefs, installations, and environments. She refers to these interior scenes as ‘stillscapes,’ which serve as both intimate and conceptual spaces, drawing the viewer into a world that echoes social histories while remaining suspended in an ambiguous, future-present.
Clare Goodwin’s work has been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions at venues in Switzerland and Europe. Notable institutional exhibitions include the Kunsthaus Aarau, Kunsthaus PasquArt Biel, Museum Haus Konstruktiv Zurich, SKK Soest in Germany, Kunstmuseum Olten, Villa Renata Basel, and Southwark Park Galleries in London. She has participated in the 4th Industrial Art Biennale in Istria, Croatia, and the exhibition Backstage Engelberg.
A recipient of a British Arts Council Fellowship Award in 2000, Goodwin has been highly recognized through awards from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, the City and Canton of Zurich, the Swiss Arts Council, and various private foundations.
Her work is part of public collections, including Kunsthaus Aarau, the Swiss Federal Collection, the Canton and City of Zurich, and Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich. Institutional collections holding her works include UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss National Bank, Zurich Kantonalbank, and Helvetia Insurance. Her work is also present in numerous European private collections, and she has been commissioned for several public art projects.
Clare Goodwin, Bar24, 2024, assemblage sculpture, lamps, electrified, 270 x 350 x 230 cm
Clare Goodwin, 1161 Assemblage, 2024, wood, ceramic, mirrors, 243 x 432 x 290 cm
Clare Goodwin, Ron, 2023, assemblage sculpture, 206 x 213 x 176 cm
Clare Goodwin, Wall Lamp, 2024, assemblage sculpture, lamps, electrified, 123 x 124 x 19 cm
Clare Goodwin, Alex, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 31 x 21 cm
Clare Goodwin, Ceramic Block, 2023, hand-cut, hand-glazed ceramic, unique, 32.5 x 14 cm
Clare Goodwin, Veronica, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 32 x 27 cm
Clare Goodwin, Ceramic Block, 2023, hand-cut, hand-glazed ceramic, unique, 26.5 x 26 cm
Clare Goodwin, Ceramic Block, 2024, hand-cut, hand-glazed ceramic, unique, 24.5 x 13.5 cm
Clare Goodwin, Jane and Jonathan, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 140 x 200 cm
Clare Goodwin, Gareth and Abigail, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 cm
Clare Goodwin, Chris and Chrissie, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 cm (Private Collection)
Clare Goodwin, Julian and Isabel, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 140 cm
Clare Goodwin, INCLUDE/CONCLUDE, 2022/24, hand-cut, hand-glazed ceramic, in 265 pieces, unique, 175 x 500 cm
Clare Goodwin – It’s All About
2 September – 21 October 2023
Clare Goodwin: DIDN’T I TELL YOU, I THINK I DID
24 October – 5 December 2020
Clare Goodwin: Whispering Widows
26 August – 7 October 2017
Le Grand Bleu: Group show with works by Anne-Lise Coste, Slawomir Elsner, Klodin Erb, Franziska Furter, Pierre Haubensak, Clare Goodwin, Sebastian Utzni and wiedemann/mettler
12 December 2020 – 23 January 2021
Correspondance: Clare Goodwin, Mamiko Otsubo, Pierre Haubensak, wiedemann/mettler and guests
8 February – 16 March 2019
With Other Eyes, group show with works by Anna Amadio, Michael Bauch, Benedikte Bjerre, Anne-Lise Coste, Slawomir Elsner, Klodin Erb, Franziska Furter, Clare Goodwin, Pierre Haubensak, Alex Heim, Jamie Isenstein, Mamiko Otsubo, Athena Vida, wiedemann/mettler, Bill Woodrow
26 May – 26 July 2018
Denise and Dennis by Clare Goodwin
www.nieves.ch
Five writers respond to Clare Goodwin’s painting Dennis and Denise (2018), offering narrative foils to Goodwin’s visual language. Dennis and Denise is neither described nor explained, but serves as a catalyst for literary experimentation. The texts, in turn, illustrate the painting’s wealth of implicit meaning.