Articles Tagged with: contemporary art

Insights into Curating with Rosalind Davis.

Insights Into Curating.

“I see exhibitions as a result of dialogues, where the curator functions in the ideal case as a Catalyst.”  Hans Ulrich Obrist

 

There is a great deal of curiosity about the job of a curator, most notably and understandably from artists; how do you curate? What kind of gallery do you work in? And then, there is always the question of how do I find artists for my exhibitions? So, I thought it would be useful to answer these questions and create a resource for people in the long term. Of course, all curators like artists are different but there are some universal truths.

 

I am an artist as well as a curator and have curated 30 exhibitions so far in my career. I was appointed the curator of Collyer Bristow Gallery in 2016;a very unique gallery in a law firm based in Holborn that was set up by partners of the firm25 years ago.  The focus of the gallery is to support artists through a dynamic gallery programme with a dedicated curator and space. Each show has between 15-25 artists and I curate 3 shows a year there, each usually spanning 4 months.

 

We have a focus towards supporting young career artists to help build their careers and profiles and so Exceptional is a graduate competition and award exhibition every 18 months. The winning artist in the exhibition receives a significant award of £2000 and, importantly being aware that competition fees can exclude artists from entering, ours is free to enter. In previous years we only allowed for artists to apply from three London art schools; Goldsmiths, Middlesex and City & Guilds of London Art School whereasthis year we will be expanding our competition to allow graduates who studied at any University in London apply.

It is a very exciting opportunity for artists and way for me to curate an exhibition focussing on these very promising and talented artists. In the other exhibitions throughout the year I support younger career artists through mixed group shows that showcases them alongside more established artists and helps build their profiles, cross fertilise networks and bring their work to new audiences as well as the opportunity to meet the other artists in the show. Collyer Bristow are also very engaged in the exhibitions and deservedly proud of the gallery. We have numerous events across the year for our many collective and different audiences including prominent arts organisations including the Contemporary Art Society, Government Art Collection, The Fine Art Group, The Mall Gallery Patrons and various other collector groups, curators, galleries, writers and artists.

insights into curating

Exceptional

How do you choose artists?

Apart from Exceptional, where the artists are chosen by a guest panel on their merits, the artists are chosen to fit within the particular themes of the show. To select the artist’s, I am always visiting lots of exhibitions (including Degree shows) research and collate lots of artist’s works. I have a very large library of artists and research on file. I also used to run an annual open competition before Exceptional as part of the arts organisation Zeitgeist Arts (which I co-directed) where I got to select and curate a huge range of artists work. I have gone onto work with a number of these artists again in other exhibitions. I have exhibited artists who were my teachers and students, artists recommended to me, artist’s I have exhibited with, artists whose careers I have been following and I am always looking! However, it can take years to place an artist’s work in an exhibition – for their work to fit in the right context. I have exhibited artists from their early 20’s to their mid 70’s, artists that have been to art school and artists are not formally trained – ultimately, it’s about the integrity, the ideas and processes of the work itself.  I am also keen to show unrepresented artists, as I am aware that exhibition opportunities can be limited.   Justin Hibbs (an artist, collaborator and partner) and I have lots of conversation about the exhibitions, coming up with ideas and thinking of artists to fit within the theme, as does Michaela Nettell, (who does all our design work for the exhibitions)  and other artists I know such as Sasha Bowles who I have also curated with in the past. They are all really engaged with the exhibitions and I am receptive to their thoughts.

One thing I don’t do (and I don’t know any curator or gallery who does) is ever choose artists who spam me or cold call – whether online or in person! For tips and ideas in how you might build a relationship with a curator or galleries can be found on a blog post I did for Hotel Elephant.

 

How do you come up with ideas for the Exhibitions?

The fact that the gallery is housed in a working and active law firm is a rich vein of inspiration for me. As an artist I am very sensitive about the context of a built space Collyer Bristow is a space full of narratives where resolutions are continually being worked towards, modified and resolved. My first exhibition at Collyer Bristow Gallery in 2016 was called Complicity. Artifice and Illusion.I curated the different meeting rooms thematically within the show that related to the law; such as extradition, mediation, copyright, divorce and dissolution, which was intended to be both playful and expansive given the galleries context. Often the titles are the starting point in my process, identifying the core themes or ideas of the show and then the works or artists who might fit within that context.

 

In the Futurewas an exhibition in 2018 inspired by David Byrne from a song written in 1985, that laid out propositions and prophesies about the future as he saw it then. The lyrics describe a future through a series of paradoxical statements that now seem strangely prescient in describing the complex reality where contradictory truths co-exist; such as the lyric; In the future there will be so much going on that no one will be able to keep track of it…. which all of us can now relate to.

 

Our current show Rules of Freedom, takes its starting point from history of how both women and men have been working to build a civil society that seeks to make the world freer, fairer and more progressive sincethe People’s Representation Act, enacted 100 years ago. Artworks in this show reference a broad range of subjects such as the civil rights movement, political freedoms, LGBTQ+ rights or freedom of movement, all of which are now under threat at this point in time. It is a show of Rule Breakers and Rule Makers, it’s title coming from an influential album by African American musician Nathan Davis, an avant-gardeJazz pioneerin the 1960’s who laid down through his music his own ‘Rules of Freedom’.

 

Re-Assembleis our next exhibition,that looks at ideas and processes of structure against the particularly precarious and fractured current political backdrop and previews on the 3 April, 6-9pm.

insights into curating

www.Rosalinddavis.co.uk  www.Collyerbristow.com/gallery

Twitter: @rosalinddavis |  Instagram: rosalindnldavis

 

For more about the art world

Paul Weiner –  Social Media and The Art World

Kate Mothes – The Internet As Vehicle


Drawing Biennial 2019 at Drawing Room – Top Five by Hector Campbell

Drawing Room’s annual ‘Drawing Biennial’ comprises both an exhibition and online auction of over 200 drawings produced by leading international artists spanning multiple generations. Featuring work by artists already recognised in the medium of drawing, as well as contributions from renowned sculptors and painters, the ‘Drawing Biennial’ promotes the importance of drawing within all areas of artistic creation and production.

Artists are invited to create an original drawing for the Biennial by Drawing Room directors Mary Doyle, Kate Macfarlane and Katharine Stout, alongside additional artist nominations from celebrated artists, museum directors, curators and collectors.

All drawings are then available to purchase via an online auction conducted during the final two weeks of the exhibition, each with a starting bid of just £300. The auction proceeds support the Drawing Room’s year-round programme of exhibitions, learning and publishing, as well as the expansion of its study library.

 

If you can’t make it to the exhibition, which runs until March 26th, here is a rundown of my top five artists with work on display in ‘Drawing Biennial 2019’, (in no particular order).

 

By Hector Campbell

 

Jessie Makinson

drawing biennial

Jessie Makinson, ‘Charm to Burn’, Ink and watercolour on paper, 2018

 

Jessie Makinson recently graduated from the Turps Banana Studio Program (London), having previously completed her BA in Painting and Drawing from Edinburgh College of Art as well as a Postgraduate Course at The Royal Drawing School (London).

Jessie’s works on paper are created by indiscriminately applying daubs and smears of ink and watercolour, which when dry form the basis of her emerging narratives. From the results of this process appear small anthropomorphised animals or fairytale figures, as shapes combine to form characters and costumes, rendered finally with the addition of the artists’ intricate line work. The randomization implicit the first stage of Jessie’s process allows for the narrative to only be found through the act of creation.

Jessie has work in an upcoming group exhibition, ‘No Patience For Monuments’, at Galerie Perrotin (Seoul) in April as well as an upcoming solo exhibition at Galería OMR(Mexico City), in June.

Website/Instagram

 

Marie Jacotey

 

drawing biennial

Marie Jacotey, ‘A Morning Amongst Millions’, Felt tip pen on paper, 2018

Marie Jacotey graduated with an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art (London), having previously completed her a DNSAD at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (Paris).

Marie’s drawings give the viewer a voyeuristic glimpse into the private, personal lives of her subjects, who are often depicted during moments of emotion, reflection or vulnerability.

Contrasted against the pervasion of social media in contemporary society, where people’s personal lives are stage-managed, fictionalised and made public, Marie’s drawings capture rare, candid episodes that offer a glimpse into actual, true intimacy.

Marie has work in the current group exhibition ‘Club Inaugural’ at Balloon Rouge Collective(Brussels) which runs until April 10th, and her recent solo exhibitions include ‘Goodbye Darkness’ at Ballon Rouge (Paris) in 2018 and ‘Morning Defeats’ at Hannah Barry Gallery (London) in 2017.

Website/Instagram

 

Gabriella Boyd

 

drawing biennial

Gabriella Boyd, ‘Balming’, Watercolour and oil on paper, 2018

Gabriella Boyd recently graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal Academy Schools (London), having previously studied at Glasgow School of Art.

Gabriella’s paintings depict imagined human interactions charged at once with a sense of both hostility and affection, dreamlike scenarios rendered in a warm, rich palette of reds, yellows, pinks and browns. Figuration is stretched beyond our earthly understanding as her characters are depicted with their lungs exterior to their bodies, communication implied simply through physical touch. Gabriella’s narrative vignettes can, therefore, be assumed to exist within an otherworldly dimension, recognisable to viewers but with subtle, preternatural indicators.

Gabriella had her debut solo exhibition, ‘Help Yourself’, at Blain|Southern (London) in 2018, recent group exhibitions include ‘Dreamers Awake’ at White Cube Bermondsey (London, 2017), ‘The London Open’ at Whitechapel Gallery (London, 2018) and ‘So Everyone is Rich Now Apparently’ with Supplement/Arcadia Missa (New York, 2017).

Website/Instagram

 

Laurence Owen

drawing biennial

Laurence Owen, ‘Looting’, Watercolour on paper, 2018

 

Laurence Owen recently graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal Academy Schools (London), having previously completed a BA in Fine Art Painting at Falmouth College of Art.

Inspired by traditions and artefacts related to Folklore, Paganism and Mythology, Laurence employs a conceptual understanding of sampling and source material to create his energetic yet architectural works. Building on his previous study and use of the word ‘loot’, meaning ‘to rob’, he comments on the undeniable influence and inspiration that comes from our current exaggerated exposure to content. The act of art-making and exhibiting is also sampled and remixed within Laurence’s work, as often unseen and unconsidered elements such as frames, hanging hooks and pins are brought to the forefront.

Laurence’s recent solo exhibitions include ‘Loot’ at Galerie PCP (Paris) in 2018, a solo presentation at VOLTA Art Fair 2018with Frestonian Gallery and ‘Channel Synthesis’ at Evelyn Yard Gallery (London) in 2016.

Website/Instagram

 

Nicholas Hatfull

drawing biennial

Nicholas Hatfull, ‘Three Studies for a Painting’, Pencil and gouache on paper, 2018

Nicholas Hatfull graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal Academy Schools (London), having previously studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art.

Nicholas’s absurdist, surrealist still life works capture and comment on contemporary society through the depiction of quotidian, mundane objects. Maintaining a language of rich visual reference points, as disparate as the films of Yasujirō Ozu and the packaging used by fast-food chains, his playful compositions are comprised of recognisable and relatable motifs. Subtly anthropomorphized objects act as human stand-ins, imbued with their often associated emotions to create an empathetic narrative for the viewer.

Nicholas’s recent solo exhibitions include ‘Tofu Dealer (to kill my hunger in daytime wander)’ at Josh Lilley (London) in 2017 and ‘Tall Grass (Expert Pruning In Ethiopia)’ at Josh Lilley (London) in 2014.

Website/Instagram

 

 

For more by Hector Campbell, see his Top Five – Subversive Stitch ant TJ Boulting


2019 Open Call Winners!

We have been absolutely blown away by the response to this year’s Open Call, and we are extremely pleased to announce the winners below. It was incredibly tough whittling down the 10,000 submissions to just 45, and so an unsuccessful application should not be seen as a failure. We could probably put on 20 great shows with all of the amazing work we received.

2019 winners

Vojtech Kovarik

Delphian Gallery’s Open Call is an annual free-to-enter online competition with the intention of discovering the most captivating and challenging work by emerging and early career artists. The first prize winner will win a fully funded solo exhibition with Delphian Gallery in London in 2019. With over 10,000 submissions from around the world, our selection this year embraces the aesthetic subjectivities of the curatorial team. Aided by last year’s overall winner Florence Hutchings, alongside curator, Hector Campbell as judges, we whittled down the submissions until we had just 45. The resulting works displayed are vibrantly varied in style, medium, and geography but build upon a collective formal language of immediacy.

Please join us for the private view on the 28th of March, you can find the full details HERE

 

The 2019 winners are:

Aleksander Jednaszewski, Aubrey Laret, Bill Daggs, Billy Bagilhole, Blake O’Brien, Brad Teodoruk and Neil Tomkins, Brian de Graft, Caleb Hahne, Daniel Bierdümpfl, David Iain Brown, Elizabeth Power, Elliot Nehra, Fabian Warnsing, Fergus Polglase, Francisca Pinto, Gabriele Herzog, Geoffrey Bohm, Jacob Littlejohn, Jake Grewal, Jemisha Maadhavji, Jim McElvaney, Jonas Mayer, Jukka Virkkunen, Julie Caves, Kirsten Valentine, Klaus is Koming, Loreal Prystaj, Mateusz Sarzynski, Matt Coombs, Max Freund, Michalitsa Kozakopoulou, Nettle Grellier, Peter Evans, Rachael Neale, Rhiannon Salisbury, Rhys Thomas, Ronan Bowes, Rune Christensen, Sasha Baszynski, Sergio Giannotta, Sophi Megan, Tania Alvarez, Tomas Harker, Valerie Savchits, Vojtech Kovarik.

2019 winners

Jemisha Maadhavji

Prints of the works are available on our website. The exhibition is kindly supported by theprintspace, and drinks for the private view are graciously provided by Crate Brewery and Jarr Kombucha.


Brett Flanigan – Zero Player Game – Pt. 2 Gallery

Zero Player Game
Brett Flanigan
Brett flanigan
On Now.
The show closes on Friday, April 5th, 2019
1523 b Webster St. Oakland, CA 94612
info@part2gallery.comDelphian favourite Pt. 2 Gallery is pleased to present Zero Player Game, a solo exhibition of paintings by Oakland-based artist Brett Flanigan. The exhibition title is a reference to the mathematician John Horton Conway’s Game of Life, a 1970 mathematical simulation where, given an initial state and a set of simple rules, a black and white grid evolves endlessly in ways that are seemingly organic and operate on similar principles as life itself.brett flanigan

In this body of work, each painting begins with an initial state in which Flanigan builds energy, usually involving repetitive patterns and intuitive mark making. This initial state then undergoes a series of reducing and rebuilding moves based on self-imposed rules or logic. The works are simultaneously formulaic and improvisational. Whenever possible, Flanigan makes aesthetic decisions using games of change such as dice rolls, coin flips, or random number generators, leaving the artist’s pre-conceived or socialized views of aesthetic behind, paving the way for unusual compositions and color combinations.

This philosophy allows Flanigan to explore many painting styles, without attempting to hone in on a signature look. While at first glance the paintings may feel disparate, upon further inspection, the viewer may see how Flanigan borrows ideas from his earlier paintings. In this way, he allows them to interact in a way that is comparable to the organs in a body, each performing its own function while working together with the others and allowing the work to live.

brett flanigan
Full press release – HERE

Brett’s Website – HERE

 

Our next show is our Open Call, which opens on the 28th of March. 

Envy For The Living – Benjamin Murphy – *SOLD OUT*

It has been four years since Benjamin Murphy released his last woodcut, which proved to be his most popular print to date. We are very excited to announce that his newest woodcut ENVY FOR THE LIVING is available NOW!

envy for the living

 

Benjamin’s prints always sell fast, and he was recently included in Stylist Magazines list of hot new art prints, with his immensely popular linoprint from 2018 Hamartia.

 

Envy for the living - benjamin murphy

Hamartia (2018) – Linoprint – Stylist Magazine

ENVY FOR THE LIVING is an 50x70cm woodcut, which has been hand drawn, cut, and printed by the artist, using a Victorian printing press from the early 1900s.

It is printed on the highest quality Norfolk 210gsm cartridge paper, using archival printmaking inks.
In a limited edition of only 15

 

(THIS PRINT IS NOW SOLD OUT)

 

Within the print, Murphy has included background references to Henri Matisse, Vanitas Painting, Ancient Greek sculpture, and Piet Mondrian. As usual, the title is taken from a work of classic literature, this time from Lev Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.


EDEN – MEVLANA LIPP at Kuk Galerie

Eden – Mevlana Lipp

Mevlana Lipp‘s works show colorful floral forms that stand at the interface between plant and human. The artist visualizes nature with paradisiac, floral structures. He illustrates a metamorphosis that is not decipherable. The selection and combination of colors produces a breathtaking brilliance. The artist contrasts the bold color of the background with the black velvet background. Lipp sculpturally elaborates his works by cutting wood panels and adding them to each other. He challenges the viewer to closely look at the different layers of the relief to explore the full image.

Eden - mevalana lip

Mevlana Lipp (born 1989) studied at the Art Academy Düsseldorf (masterclass of Thomas Grünfeld). In his first solo exhibition at krupic kersting the artist shows new works.
The exhibition EDEN refers to the paradise within creation. In his work Mevlana Lipp suggests the original form of creation. Mixed forms of plants and figurative elements recall Stone Age finds and creatures of the deep sea, which can be read as an antithesis to creation. The artist cuts the floral forms out of wood and merges them into relief-like pictures. The bright color of the motifs enhances the plastic effect and emphasizes the entanglement of the motifs. Lipp’s new works are characterized by a sensual interweaving of forms. For the first time, the artist shows steel sculptures and drawings that physically continue the formal language of his works into the room.

Eden - mevalana lip

The sculptures appear like fossils, remnants of an ancient time, unfolding in the exhibition. They are characterized by a monochrome application of color, from which delicate colors shimmer through. The drawings serve the artist as a source of inspiration for his wood paintings. Lipp combines the drawings with a sculptural frame, which complements the vines pattern. In “First Steps of the Future” (see‘KölnGalerien 01/19’) Oliver Tepel describes these floral-figurative elements as follows: “Flowers grow to  hands, scratching as strangers on the most astonishing material, because candles bloom from the green of the stalks. Mevlana Lipp uses a color spectrum in front of a black background, reminiscent of the first graphic depictions of life in the deep sea. And like the mysterious untouchedness of this sphere, Mevlana Lipp’s “Eden” proves, as the title of the exhibition, a quiet beauty, not without fright. They are odes of tactile communication, delicate or penetrating touches, ostensibly innocent curiosity in the last seconds of Paradise, until knowledge opens the space to all suffering. Suffering also remains in fragile elegance, but where mysterious glow was, now are dull colors and the unstructured growing gets rhythmic structures; Order is the language of lost innocence. Is it religious art or just one that addresses the big questions of life? Amazing what painting can do. ”

Kuk Galerie

January 18. 2019 – March 09. 2019 | curated by Wilko Austermann

For more exhibitions, see this link


Creative Restlessness – A conversation between Benjamin Murphy and Kevin Perkins

Creative Restlessness – A conversation between Benjamin Murphy and Kevin Perkins

 

I was first made aware of Kevin’s work through social media and I was struck by his boundless energy for experimentation. Whilst undertaking this wild experimentation, his work retained a feel that was unmistakably his. I have exhibited, and exhibited his work a few times before our upcoming show A Long Way From Home (With Igor Moritz), and in each show he has exhibited a different form of painting. Each of these, however, are executed with an expert precision, whilst also displaying a wonderful expressiveness and economy of gesture. I decided to have a chat to him ahead of the show we did with him back in January, about his work, and his approach to making in general.

 

Kevin Perkins

Utilising the unusual medium of coloured pencil on salvaged book covers; the portraits depict (mostly) lone sitters smoking, drinking tea, reflected in mirrors or simply ‘being’ and certainly give the nod to a golden era of twentieth century European painting. The surfaces of the book covers themselves lend an almost canvas-like quality to the images, and also help to add a beautiful ageing affect to the colour. Through these works, Perkins continues to develop his excellent ability to reference and draw from art-history, producing nostalgic works that drip with both playfulness and charisma.

 

[Benjamin Murphy] – Firstly – why are you an artist?

 

[Kevin Perkins] – I originally started painting out of necessity. I got hired to teach high school painting classes with no real background in painting. I’d watch YouTube videos and read tutorials before every class and then make a demo of whatever concept I was trying to teach. That turned into a real practice. I was looking at a massive amount of art and decided that I wanted to try and be a real artist, whatever that means.

 

I felt like an imposter for a long time. But now I guess I make work out of what I like to think of as a creative restlessness.

 

[BM] – Is this perhaps why you are experimenting so much within your practice?

 

[KP] – Oh yeah. Definitely.  I tend to have a hard time staying put in one specific approach to my work. I’m not really interested in creating the same kind of work over and over. I don’t care if that’s what sells, I make the work for myself, to fulfill a need that I have.

 

[BM] – I think the driving force for most artists is a need for experimentation, even if their work remains on a similar track. Where do you see your work going in future?

 

[KP] – I tend to not think about the future of my work. It’s a very in the moment kind of thing. Though I’m interested in moving into sculpture but haven’t had the space or time to figure out what that looks like for me.

 

[BM] – So where does your imagery come from?

 

[KP] – I cobble together images that I’ve found from my stockpile of old books, magazines publications, and photographs, as well as the occasional internet find, life drawings, and reimagining of master works. I don’t really seek out imagery for the work often. Instead, if I stumble across something that may work I’ll tuck it back until I’m ready for it.

 

[BM] – How in control would you say of how the paintings ultimately end up looking, do you have a ideal aesthetic in mind or is your process more experimental?

 

[KP] – The idea of an ideal aesthetic is something that I don’t put much stock in because it’s always changing. But to say that my work is experimental is reaching too far. Achieving consistency is not something I concern myself with. I produce work and it inevitably looks like my work. It may be influenced by someone or some thing that I’ve consumed but the way I apply paint, the rhythm of my hand, the energy will be evident in the work. It’s like writing letters. I don’t think about the way I write the letter “e” but if I write enough of them a pattern will emerge. In the same way, if I am true to myself and produce work that is a creative outflow of my interests, then patterns within the works will begin to form and an aesthetic that is true and uniquely mine will appear.

 

That being said, I do follow a similar process with the creation of most of my works. Which lends itself to a more consistent and specific aesthetic.

 

My drawings and studies are free and open to the whims of chance

kevin perkins

Kevin Perkins – book cover portraits

[BM] – With my work I aim to paint haptically, thinking as little about how I want it to look or what it means as possible, because I want it to mean different things to each individual viewer. Would you say that you paint in a similar way?

 

[KP] – Yes and no. I’m not so concerned about the outcome or what it means. I’d like for the work to look a certain way but that can range depending on where I am at mentally and emotionally as I’m creating the work. I make the work for myself. So to disassociate from the outcome for the sake of the viewer would be dishonest to myself and I feel that my work and my drive to make the work would suffer. I don’t care about the viewer so much. People will interact with and read into the work what they will and I’ve got no control over that.

 

[BM] – What are your intentions when you approach a canvas?

 

[KP] – I’m more interested in the creation than the outcome. Don’t get me wrong

though, the outcome is certainly an important aspect to it all. But once I’m done with the work I have no intention of returning to it. I’ve detached myself from the work. It’s served it’s purpose for me. I treat every painting like a puzzle. The enjoyment is putting it together. Once I’m done with that I could care less if it ends up in the trash or on someone’s wall. I suppose though that it’s nice to make a little money so that I can keep up the insanity of making work.

 

Maybe I’m being too honest.

 

[BM] – Yeah I can totally see what you mean, for me it’s all about the process. Once it’s finished and framed it feels almost as if it was done by someone else.

 

[KP] – So how do you feel about your most recent works, and did you alter your approach in any way knowing that this was a two-person show?

 

Yes I did. I was more open and free with my use of color. Igor has a beautiful sense of color and I guess my works needed a bit of a boost in order to stand in the same space as his.

 

[BM] – Is that the first time you’ve worked in this way?

 

[KP] – I feel like I’ve been edging toward it for a while.

 

[BM] – Can you tell us a little about the works you created for the show?

 

[KP] – I messed around with form a lot in this body of work. These paintings move in and out of refinement. Some of the work is incredibly unrefined, for example one of my self portraits was done in one take, drawn while only looking in the mirror and never at the canvas (blind contour). Another work, one of the nudes, was left as an unpolished charcoal drawing. And then there of course were more refined renderings in other works in the show.

 

The enjoyment for me comes in pushing the figures and the spaces that they inhabit beyond the norms of portraiture. Portraits are tricky, I’m never really trying to paint a specific person the way they actually look. I’m more considering the narrative around them and how that comes across in the work.

 

In retrospect, the paintings here emphasize the process, and the history, of how I work. As I stated earlier, I don’t like to think much about how someone may interpret the work. My interest in it lies in the development, the making of the works.

kevin perkins

Kevin Perkins – Book cover drawing

Kevin’s book cover works will be released as a catalogue via Kunst Katalog soon, follow their profile via the hyperlink for more details.

The other artist in our show with Kevin Perkins was Igor Moritz, read Benjamin’s conversation with him [HERE]

Originally published in AfterNyne Magazine.


Subversive Stitch at TJ Boulting – My Top Five by Hector Campbell.

‘Subversive Stitch’, taking its name from Art Historian and prominent feminist Rozsika Parker’s 1984 book and 1988 touring exhibition ‘The Subversive Stitch – Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine’, presents textile-based artworks across TJ Boultings two room space. Spanning the mediums of embroidery, weaving, tapestry, clothing and sculpture, ‘Subversive Stitch’ builds upon the rich history of the previously disregarded craft, considered a purely feminine and domesticated preoccupation until the twofold influence of  both the Arts and Craft movement and the Suffrage movement, of the late 19th and early 20th century respectively, co opted and subverted the medium, bringing it to the forefront of avant garde artistic practice. In contemporary art textile work retain that forward-thinking aesthetic, imbued with political, cultural and innovative touchstones usually associated with more traditional mediums.

 

If you can’t make it to the exhibition, which runs until March 23rd, here is a rundown of my top five artists with work on display in ‘Subversive Stitch’, (in no particular order).

 

By Hector Campbell

 

Bea Bonafini

 

subversive stitch

Bea Bonafini, ‘Shape-Shifting V’, Pastel on wool and nylon carpet inlay, 2018

 

Bea Bonafini recently graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Painting, having previously completed her BFA from the Slade Schools of Fine Art.

Inspired by primitive cave paintings located on the Island of Levanzo, Sicily, her large collages are fashioned from carpet offcuts, subverting the traditional function of the quotidian material as it becomes a wall-mounted artwork. Considering herself “a kind of anthropologist”, in ‘Shape Shifting V’ Bea amalgamates both human and animal imagery to evoke the iconography of not only historical hunt paintings but also contemporary anthropomorphic animations.

Bea has upcoming solo exhibitions at Bosse and Baum, London in June and Chloe Salgado, Paris in September.

Website/Instagram

 

James Merry

 

subversive stitch

James Merry, ‘Nike/Jöklasóley’, Embroidered sweatshirt, 201

 

James Merry is an entirely self-taught artists, having previously studied Classical Greek at Oxford University. While originally from Gloucestershire, UK, since 2009 he has been living and working with the musician Björk in Iceland.

His painstaking practice of reappropriating and recycling vintage sportswear by embroidering intricate floral and fauna into the logos explores the often overlooked overlaps between man and machine, nature and nurture, urban and rural. Often associated with post-apocalyptic ideas of Mother Nature reclaiming the earth and correcting mans misgivings, in ‘Nike/Jöklasóley’ the iconic Nike tick logo has been infested with weeds and a large ‘Glacier Sunflower’ (Jöklasóley) frequently found in the scandinavian mountains.

James also exhibits an embroidered headpiece consisting of plastic, UV thread and pearl beads, a recreation of an original created for Björk’s 2016 photoshoot with Santiago Felipe for the Evening Standard.

Website/Instagram

 

Charlotte Edey

 

subversive stitch

Charlotte Edey, ‘Open Tapestry I’, Woven cotton tapestry with hand embroidery in cotton and metallic, 2018

 

Charlotte Edey completed a Foundation year at Chelsea School of Art in 2011, and has since worked as a freelance illustrator and fine artist, producing work for clients such as the New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News and Penguin Random House

Her embroidery works put a surreal twist on scale, architecture and landscape to explore ideas relating to identity and modern femininity. ‘Open Tapestry I’, produced as an edition of 5, contrasts intricate figurative details with large gradient circles of rich colour to identify the identity conflicts rife in contemporary society.

Charlotte also exhibits ‘Fresh Water’, an original miniature tapestry channelling the concepts underpinning the Greek myth of Narcissus to examine self awareness and introspection, as a delicate hand reaches down to touch, and is subsequently reflected in, a pool of water.

Website/Instagram

 

Amanda Ross-Ho

 

subversive stitch

Amanda Ross-Ho, ‘Untitled T-Shirt (WORLD MAP #2), Jersey, rib, thread, acrylic, 2015

 

Currently living and working in Los Angeles, Amanda Ross-Ho completed her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998 and her MFA at the University of Southern California in 2006 and has since exhibited international.

Previously working full time as a textile designer, Amanda has parlayed those skills into her fine art practice, recently created a series of twelve large scale collaged assemblages of cartoon faces expressing, each expressing different emotions synonymous with popular digital emojis. Her ‘Untitled T-Shirt (WORLD MAP #2)’ humorous scales up an otherwise mundane paint covered white t-shirt to such as size as to overwhelm the viewer and bewilder their sense of proportion.

Amanda’s latest solo exhibition ‘HURTS WORST’, featuring the aforementioned emoji-eque embroideries, runs until March 17th at Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway.

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Hrafnhildur Arnardottir/Shoplifter

 

subversive stitch

Hrafnhildur Arnardottir/Shoplifter, Synthetic hair and mesh, ‘Sunny Smiley’, 2016

 

Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, AKA Shoplifter, completed her BFA at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in 1993 and her MFA at the School of Visual Arts, New York, in 1996 and has since exhibited international.

Combining old-fashioned craft techniques with the unique texture and colour of synthetic hair fibres Shoplifter creates her playful sculptures and reliefs, that draw from genres such as folk art and naïvism. The instantly recognisable ‘smiley’ is a recurring icon in her work, and Shoplifter has recreated it in a number of sizes, colours and variates, choosing here to portray it in its familiar yellow and black colour scheme.

Her work is currently featured in the retrospective Nordic Impressions: Contemporary Art from Åland, Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden at Scandinavia House in New York, which runs until June 8th, and Shoplifter will represent Iceland in this years Venice Biennale.

Website

 

For more from Hector Campbell, see his top five of Interim Projects


SLEEP ON THE WIND – The Dot Project

SLEEP ON THE WIND

Terencio González | Ralph Hunter-Menzies | Daniel Jensen

Sleep On The Wind

Ralph Hunter-Menzies

Delphian favourite The Dot Project‘s new show opens tonight! Sleep on the Wind is a group show featuring the works of French artist Terencio Gonzalez, Swedish artist Daniel Jensen, and British artist Ralph Hunter-Menzies. The exhibition focuses heavily on the questions; How does space influence the way one makes a painting? Does the constant exposure to urban mark making affect an approach to canvas?

Through the curation of the show, thanks to Hunter-Menzies, mark making is defined by two categories. One: deliberate, thoughtful, premeditated, controlled – the other: accidental, erratic, loose, uncontrolled. The three artists included in Sleep on the Wind have been brought together for their diverse approach to these two types of mark making.

The way that painters are influenced by their surroundings is clear to see in many a painter. The city an artist lives in no-doubt affects the marks they deploy in the studio. This is evident within the works of all three artists, in varying degrees. Terencio, with his almost sun-bleached planes of colour, reminding us of sun-aged surfaces on the Côte-d’Azur and isolated, seemingly accidental marks; Ralph, with works made using techniques used by graffiti removers and focussing on interventions within urban-spaces; and Daniel, where a melee of marks, controlled and loose, sit closely together, echoing city living.

Sleep On the Wind - Delphian Gallery

Daniel Jensen

Through Sleep on the Wind we explore how three painters approach layering, building, evolving the image as well as exploring how works are directed through the use of accidental and deliberate (controlled) mark making. These two distinct categories of potential strokes fluctuate between specific definitions: creative/destructive, state/individual, invisible/visible or present/past. Within the works of the artists, there are moments where the marks question one other: Which is ‘supposed’ to be there? Does one way of marking have precedence over the other?

Sleep On The Wind alludes to a way of moving and existing within a space that is transitionary; the way that people shape the city and space in which they inhabit. Transitory spaces are defined by a sense of movement, a space in which the person doesn’t feel attachment or have invested interest, unlike a domestic setting. Does exposure to these environments, perhaps in transit from the studio, affect the way these painters make works?

Sleep On the Wind - Delphian Gallery

Terencio González

PRIVATE VIEW FEBRUARY 28 6 PM – 9 PM
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

EXHIBITION FEB 28 – APR 30
+44 207 589 9199


Faded Glory – San Francisco

Our most recent show Faded Glory opened a few weeks ago in San Francisco at Book&Job gallery in the Tenderloin district. It was a two-person show with artists Benjamin Murphy and Nick JS Thompson, who although have collaborated many times before, have never done a two-person show together until now.

San francisco - faded glory

Below are some install shots of the show. Big thanks to the amazing Carson Lancaster for inviting us to host a show at Book&Job Gallery, and thanks to everyone who visited the show.

San francisco - faded glory

 

In 2018 we hosted Carson’s debut UK solo show Lost Coast, which you can see [HERE]