Joseph (Joe) Szirer (Australia) ceramics

Joseph Szirer was born in 1939 in Hungary. He arrived in Australia in 1956 and studied painting and ceramics at Caulfield Institute of Technology and was employed as a part-time lecturer from 1975. About this time he established his own studio in the Dandenongs near Melbourne. His works are marked with an impressed 'JS'. Some are signed 'Szirer' and he also produced a line of works with an impressed 'Jo Szirer Studio' stamp. From 1981, with assistance from the Crafts Board of the Australia Council, he engaged several trainee ceramicists. Since his first exhibition at Gallery 99 in Melbourne, he has held ten solo exhibitions in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania and has participated in major group exhibitions. He is represented in the Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney, National Gallery of Victoria, and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart