Articles Tagged with: delphian gallery

Episode 4 of the Delphian Podcast is now live!

Episode 4 of the Delphian Podcast is NOW LIVE!

episode 4

We sit down with long time Delphian friend and Beers London artist Andrew Salgado at his London studio. Andrew, a Canadian painter has been based in London for a long time now and we and discuss social media, politics and theory in art as well as consistency in an artists output.

 

Listen now on our website HERE, or search DELPHIAN PODCAST in iTunes, Spotify, or Podbean.

 

 


Episode 3 of the Delphian Podcast is now live!

Episode 3 of the Delphian Podcast is NOW LIVE!

episode 3

In episode 3 of The Delphian Podcast we talk to artist, curator and author Rosalind Davis. In her personal work, Rosalind produces multi-disciplinary works about the transformation of space. She has also been the permanent curator at Collyer Bristow Gallery in London since 2016 and has curated over 30 exhibitions to date. In 2016 she co-authored the book “What they didn’t teach you at art school” with Annabel Tilley and she is a regular lecturer at universities, galleries and organisations across the country.

 

Listen now on our website HERE, or search DELPHIAN PODCAST in iTunes, Spotify, or Podbean.

 

Read more about Rosalind  HERE


We asked 46 artists which was their favourite art-based Instagram account at the moment, here are their answers…

Paul Weiner (@POWeiner) – I love Clyfford Still. Check out @Still_Museum.

Charley Peters (@CharleyPeters) – There’s a lot of great artist accounts, too many to choose a favourite. I do always look forward to posts from @GerryBonetti, he consistently presents an elegantly curated selection of contemporary work. He’s very generous and supportive of artists; obviously passionate about what’s being made now and the legacy of what has been made before. It’s an intelligent feed with a strong authorial voice.

Remi Rough (@RemiRough) – @dezeen or @designboom

Jonny Green (@JonnyGreenArt) – @drawingcocksonthelocalpaper @ambera.wellmann @van_minnen @jakechapmaniac, these are all pretty similar.

Richard Stone (@Artist_Stone) – I don’t have a favourite, but I do like artist (and curator) accounts that mix it up visually and textually and it surprises you or you learn something.

Kevin Perkins (@Kevin_Perkins_) – @bathersbytheriver is great

Sally Bourke (@Justondark) – Probably @jerrysaltz or @whos____who

Lee Johnson (@LeeJohnson.eu) – I always like to see what @stonertim and @paul.housley are painting. Also @rhyslee_ and @jerrysaltz, and my buddy @dellyrose

Jenny Brosinski (@Jenny_Brosisnski) – @davidkordanskygallery

Andy Dixon (@Andy.Dxn) – You can’t go wrong with @painterspaintingpaintings – I’m inspired by pretty much everything they post.

Klone Yourself (@KloneYourself) – I think my fav Instagram accounts at the moment are actually of cartoons and short comics, there’s some realy good ones and the fit the phone screen format much better then art that never realy translates well.

Daisy Parris (@DaisyParris) – @CodyTumblin

Jake Chapman (@JakeChapmaniac) – None

Benjamin Murphy (@BenjaminMurphy_) – @Daily_Contemporary_Art

Tom Anholt (@TomAnholt) – @PaintersPaintingPaintings

Spencer Shakespeare (@SpencerShakespeare) -Anything Richard Ayoade

Rowan Newton (@Rowan_Newton) – @18.01london

Hayden Kays (@HaydenKays) – I love seeing factory production line videos on Instagram. I love factories. I love nifty machines. They remind me of Heath Robinson creations. Art is reduced to postage stamp proportions on it, that are then viewed in an infinite conveyor belt of imagery and noise. It’s certainly not the white walled, calm space I think art often thrives in.

Matthew Allen (@Matthew__Allen) – It has to be @Work2day, it has a similar aesthetic to my own interests, but has a much broader scope so I often find new works/artists via their account.

Rae Hicks (@Rae_Hicks_On_Gangs) – @Sean.Steadman’s feed is always a flow of gems.

Jonni Cheatwood (@Jonni_Cheatwood) – I’m a big fan of @TaylorA.White as a person, definitely as a painter but he’s just so so funny.

Andrew Salgado (@Andrew.Salgado.Art) – im trying to spend less time on instagram as it feeds into bad self-image. but i like @painterspainterspaintings and @topainterstopaintings or something like that. i forget.

Soumya Netrabile (@Netrabile) – I really like @Jitjander’s page. It’s this evolving survey of evocative images from which you can draw so much inspiration.

Hedley Roberts (@HedleyRoberts) – @the_chopper_lifestyle is my favourite Instagram account right now. It isn’t art based, at least not in a obvious way. For art, there’s loads but @painterspaintingpaintings is one I go back to regularly.

Nick JS Thompson (@nickjsthompson) – @brush_uk always have an excellently curated feed of contemporary painting.

Justin Long (@_JustinLong) – @arthandlermag

Erin Lawlor (@TheErinLawlor) – @painterspaintingpaintings.

Tony Riff (@TonyRiff) – It’s always changing but Probably @Spencermann he knocks out so much work but it’s always super consistent, thanks for making me feel lazy, dude.

Justin Lee Williams (@ArtJLW) – @Greatartinuglyrooms – it’s gold

Jordy Kerwick (@JordyKerwick) – @Daily_Contemporary_Art (of course). If not DC, @FreudMonkGallery

Wingshan Smith (@wingshansmith) – @thewhitepube always.

Fiona Grady (@Fiona_Grady) – One of my favourites is artist @nickyhirst63 she doesn’t tend to share photos of her artworks but instead things that capture her attention – in some ways it’s more insightful. I think she has a really great eye for detail and her feed has a subtle humour.

Obit (@LazyObit) – I’d love to say something highbrow but in reality it’s @saucypostcard

Kenichi Hoshine (@Kenichi_Hoshine) – I really like @painterspaintingpaintings, @yngspc and @collecteurs

Bertrand Fournier (@FournierBertrand)– I don’t want some to be jealous.

Anthony Cudahy (@AnthonyCudahy) – I would say Cheyenne Julien, but she’s taking a break from Instagram. @PeterShear has a knack for finding the most unexpected and unusual paintings from an artist which I truly appreciate.

Johnny Thornton (@_JohnnyThornton) – I follow a lot of amazing artists but right now I’m enjoying the work of @POWeiner. His work is just fantastic.

Jesse Draxler (@JesseDraxler) – @davidvonbahr

Richie Culver (@RichieCulver) – @Abstract.Mag

Martin Lukac (@Martin.Lukac) – @JanCerny_

Gabriele Herzog (@Gabriele_Herzog) – @annetruitt – An amazing combination of images with incredible writing by Anne Truitt

Cannon Dill (@CannonDill) – @Sauerkrautmissionary22

Mevlana Lipp (@Mevlana_Lipp) – @the_art_estate, @painterspaintingpaintings, @art.viewer to name a few.

Danny Romeril (@D_Romeril) – @florencebh @mickhutchings @ferguspolglase @greatartinuglyrooms

Florence Hutchings (@FlorenceBH) – @mickhutchings, @d_romeril and @art.kids.art

Catherine Haggarty (@Catherine_Haggarty) – my friend @eleanor.k.ray who shares so many amazing photos of her travels! – @ej_hauser

 

For more, we asked 45 artists

What They Did To Relax

What Was The One Thing About The Artworld They Wish Would Disappear Forever

What One Piece Of Advice They Would Give To Young Artists


Clutch // Agarrar – Robin Footitt interview

Clutch // Agarrar – Robin Footitt

Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon, Portugal

Opening: Wednesday 26th June 2019; 6 – 8pm

Dates: 26/06 – 07/09/19

Clutch // Agarrar

Tell us about your new body of work, am I right in thinking it ties in with your last exhibition in London?

That’s right, it has been 6 months since ‘Open Window’ at New Art Projects, London and I felt that I needed to develop and revisit this sense of loss when using your hands creatively on digital operating platforms. Open Window was thematically concentrated on the language shift of meaning from its basis as a means to escape towards a term for single-minded focus when working on a computer. The solo exhibition at Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon is titled ‘Clutch // Agarrar’ and is intended to reply to that instinct of snatching or grasping at something instinctively with your reactive hands.

It’s reasonable to say that the theme of detachment has reoccurred in many of my pieces, particularly in relation to hands – I’ve always been fascinated how hands can affect composition with specific signs in religious and historical paintings almost like their purpose is to gesture towards meaning. Personally, living as I do with a hearing impairment I always take gesturing as a clue to what I might not be hearing 100 percent of the time.

In Open Window you almost had three separate sections. Have you done that with Clutch // Agarrar and can you explain some of the pieces of work?

I’ve enjoyed the evolving language that the past two exhibitions at New Art Projects (Modern Grammar, 2016 and Open Window, 2018) have afforded me – working in the same space twice has given me the chance to play around with some of the disconnect I sometimes feel when working across different media outside of the studio. I see presentation as a medium in itself and the gallery space at Carlos Carvalho is vast and open – many works can be seen from one viewpoint and I want to see how these dynamics playout. So this was my starting point to develop new work, open space can sometimes give a virtual perfect thumbnail view of an artwork before you see it close up. I’m thinking of how colours were manipulated by the impressionists to see form when standing at distance from the canvas. So many of the works in Clutch // Agarrar operate differently when seen from those two points of view, an image will be solid and then unravel on closer inspection whether it be like the impressionists or from other forms of image manipulation. This has also meant that I have worked on a larger scale to realise such an impression from distance.

Clutch // Agarrar

What was the process of putting together this body of work?

Like I said previously, I needed to revisit a theme that came out of Open Window by facing it head on – a sense of loss when creativity is detached from touch and the mechanical use of your hands. I’ve been working on an intimate scale for some time, crafting larger work from smaller beginnings. One such beginning was the construction of cut paper collages using red, green and blue to replicate magnified pixels on various display screens from mobile phones, gaming consoles and digital tablets. I knew I wanted to show this work at the centre of the exhibition having previously used them to make patterned Lycra textiles and at Carlos Carvalho I have the opportunity to show these for the first time.

The Lycra artworks have returned but this time the stretching is minimal, I’m using the surface as a means to show subliminal images on top on the pixel RGB patterns with minimal distortion around the edges. An important work for me is a version of French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte’s ‘Les raboteurs de parquet’; the original painting revealed its process by having the floor strippers peeling away the wooden boards and in doing so took the surface back to the bare canvas beneath. This has always struck me as quite a performative painting, like you feel the action of stripping down the basics of painting and that gives it a very special energy. Now in the context of Clutch // Agarrar there is a disconnect when viewing the image as a composed screen of pixelated dots – just as there would be if you were to do an image search on your phone right now to look up the painting that I’m talking about. It would be backlit as if Caillebotte were painting with light itself fully realised rather than mastering its effects with paint and canvas.

Would you say that exhibiting in a new country adds some fear or excitement? Did you feel you were second guessing or working with more freedom?

I’ve approached this show with the idea of a new audience in mind, the majority will have never seen my work before and may approach it from a completely different context. I wanted to be sensitive to that, to have a clear objective and a strong visual element but then again I always enjoy the uncertainty of two opinions. Having a bilingual title was my way of introducing this thought of duality – the English term clutch has a host of meanings, I found out that it’s even used in sports as a way of describing someone who came through in a difficult or trying time. Now, I asked a Portuguese friend if there was a similar term and he gave me two suggestions “agarrar” which means to grab, grasp, hold, cling, seize, clutch… the other was “apertar” which is to tighten, press, squeeze, pinch, clamp, clutch… so even in this I was reinterpreting meaning! Ultimately it will be about finding an unsettled middle ground – I’ve also played with the Portuguese language in some of my titles, finding symmetry in palindromes such as ‘Luz AzuL’, ‘SaraS’ and ‘SeleS’. The visual influence of Lisbon is included in a use of repeated azulejo tile patterns from Museu Nacional do Azulejo as well as producing a tile pattern directly from a sample of ‘Les raboteurs de parquet’.

This will be your first time exhibiting with Carlos Carvalho but you also were featured last month at PHOTO LONDON at Somerset House. How have you found working with the gallery so far and how did the relationship begin?

It began with a recommendation from fellow artist Tatiana Macedo, who is represented by Carlos Carvalho and a good friend of mine for over 15 years. We studied together at Central Saint Martins art college 2001-2004 and have kept in touch. I curated a solo show of her photography and video at 4 Windmill Street, London titled ‘Seems So Long Ago, Nancy’ in 2012. The process with the gallery took 2 years from initial dialogue and meetings to arranging the dates and content for the exhibition – I feel excitement from both sides about my involvement in Lisbon and they were kind enough to invite me to show a series of works from 2014 called ‘Closed Circuit Saga’ at PHOTO LONDON art fair this May alongside some of their artists (Anthony Goicolea, Isabel Brison, Jessica Backhaus and Mónica de Miranda). Their interest and engagement with this work gave me the confidence to expect great things from our collaboration.

Clutch // Agarrar

So its fair to say you’re looking forward to this new experience? Carlos Carvalho has a strong emphasis on photography, where do you see the placement of your work in this context?

Absolutely! I see the focus on photography that the gallery upholds as a useful one when approaching the visual work that I make. I mean visual in the sense of an overall image, we live in a digital culture where even text information is read visually before the content is absorbed on websites and banners. The work was collected post PHOTO LONDON so as I speak the artwork has arrived ahead of me! With the time I have before arriving in Lisbon to install I have made plenty of notes for how to hang these pieces and researching the rest of my trip. For the first time I have collaborated with a graphic designer, Jacinto Caetano to continue this identity beyond the exhibition so even the title of show has a strong visual presence. I’m looking forward to attending the opening night on Wednesday 26th June.

 

Interview by Rowan Newton

@robinfootittart


SoEdited interview with Benjamin Murphy ahead of the opening of ANTIHERO

With a hint of Art Nouveau’s Aubrey Beardsley black lines and detailed patterns, Benjamin Murphy uses electrical tape to create and glamourise the female form. Creating a snapshot of a moment, a fleeting glimpse of inner thoughts via the gesture of a figurative movement.

Murphy is a stable part of the London art scene, yet not affiliated to any particular scene, and has forged out his own niche in the past 10 years.

SoEdited caught up with Benjamin to chat about his developing style.

 

SE:
Some of your early works document social situations. What was behind these ideas?

BM:
I try to depict people in unposed scenarios, as if we are seeing them during their private moments of inaction and introspection. For this reason I try to keep the actual action to an absolute minimum so as to leave the figures to be shown in contemplation rather than in the process of doing something. I want the work to feel very slow and quiet, but with the suggestion that more is going on in the characters mind – that’s where the action sits. These kind of scenarios can naturally look quite melancholic, and people can read into that whatever they like. I prefer to give the viewer as much scope to interpret my work as possible, and I think that any interpretation of an artwork is the correct one.

SE:
Some high-profile portraits have been part of your work. How is it to work with a subject, rather than just your imagination?

BM:
The actress Olivia Coleman commissioned me to draw her and her husband a few years ago, and they were both the loveliest people to work with, so that was an absolute pleasure. I went round their house photographing lots of patterns and objects to include in the background, so there were lots of sentimental items represented. They were very happy with the piece.

On the whole though, the portraits I’ve been commissioned to do have usually been much stranger subjects, which I think suits my work quite nicely.
I was asked a few years ago to draw Fred & Rose West, which meant that whatever I did, the work was going to invoke strong reactions. A few serendipitous and coincidental things happened, linking myself to them at the time I was making it, which was interesting.

soedited

Photograph by Nick JS Thompson

 

SE:
The male portrait and figure has very recently become part of you concentration in portraits. Why now?

BM:
I decided that I had been working very much within my comfort-zone, and so as soon as I identified that, it was time for a course-correction.

SE:
From your perspective. What is the difference between the male and the female as a muse?

BM:
The male figure is a lot easier to draw in general, as any slight diversions in line just appear as musculature. It’s harder to capture things like tenderness with the male form, but it’s important to challenge oneself with things like this, and to think about why these challenges may exist in the first place.

SE:
If we at SoEdited were to give you a commission, what would it be?

BM:
People keep asking me to do a self-portrait, which I always avoid. Perhaps it’s time.

SE:
When working in your studio, are you more comfortable being isolated or is it a social atmosphere?

SO:
My studio needs to be a very solitary place. Often I’ll spend days on one pattern, which can be unimaginably repetitive and my brain needs to pretty much switch off from it so as to be able to repeat the same action over and over again for hours at a time. The slightest distraction makes this progress very hard.

Aside from that my studio is less like the Baconesque studio most people imagine all artists to inhabit, and a lot more like a study or an office. There are lots of plants and books, and obviously lots of art works on the walls.

SE:
We have seen you grow into a very handsome man. What would you consider the attributes of being a handsome man?

BM:
“I am not an artist I’m a fucking work of art.” – Marilyn Manson

SE:
What was the last thing that offended you?

BM:
Offence is a very loaded term these days, and it’s been given more power than it deserves. People are so worried about offending or being offended that they completely shy away from debate, and opposing groups never interact. I believe that all topics should be on the table for discussion, even abhorrent ones, as the most successful way to tackle intolerance and bigotry is to undermine them in serious debate.
There are a lot of things politically that have been pissing me off recently, but for reasons stated above, I’m reticent to use the term offended.

soedited

Photograph by Nick JS Thompson

SE:
Have you been upset in the last 6 months. If so why…

BM:
I’m an eternal optimist, so not really no. I’ve seen a lot of sad things like everyone does, but I try to accept them and learn from them where possible.I’ve seen people die and relationships break down, but I am very much of the belief that we are not defined by things that happen to us, but by how we respond to such things.

SE:
You have an ability to be quite blunt. What is this bluntness?

BM:
Haha this is something I try to combat daily. I’m often quite indelicate! My friend Nick described my demeanour the other day as ”northern stoicism”, which is probably pretty apt – and absolves me from any responsibility, as it’s inbuilt and genetic.

SE:
What five songs define you?

BM:
The last five artists I’ve listened to on Spotify are:
Motörhead, Iggy Pop, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Slayer, Alice In Chains.

SE:
IS there a film that you wish you could have lived?

BM:
Nymphomaniac.

 

 

Benjamin Murphy – ANTIHERO
Delphian Gallery

Private view 03/07/19 18:00-2200
Paja&Bureau
Korkeavuorenkatu 7
00140 Helsinki

Show runs every day until the 11th.

Exhibition graciously supported by Paja&BureauCreat, and drinks for the private view supplied by Suomenlinnan Panimo

Tape kindly supplied by Cre8 Tapes


‘Commixture’ at The Koppel Project – Hector Campbell’s Top Five

Commixture at The Koppel Project

Curated by Sally Gorham.

 

The Koppel Project in Central London plays host to Commixture, curated by Sally Gorham, a group exhibition that presents a snapshot of the current London emerging art scene through the lens of materiality and a diversity of mediums and methods. Each of the exhibited artists display continued exploration and experimentation within their practice, particularly in the context of their experience of media, material and physical making. The variety on show in Commixture highlights the innumerous ways in which artists approach creating, and how these approaches alter and change in relation to their navigation of the contemporary art world. The careful curation of Sally Gorham guides the audience through the exhibition, creating dialogues between not only the individual artworks but also the many disparate mediums and movements they encompass.

 

If you can’t make it to the exhibition, which runs until July 13th, here is a rundown of my top five artists with work on display in ‘Commixture’, (in no particular order).

 

ByHector Campbell

 

Nathaniel Faulkner

commixture

Nathaniel Faulkner, Maze Painting, MDF, spray paint, flock, 2019

 

Nathaniel graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, UAL (London), having previously completed his Foundation in Art and Design at Bath College.

Nataniel’s work regularly references popular culture, cinematic history and invented architecture, and in Maza Painting he turns his attention to Stanley Kubricks 1980 masterpiece The Shining by reinterpreting The Overlook Hotel’s arhitectural maze model as a sculptural relief. Painstakingly crafted from MDF, the work could easily be interpreted as a work of pure geometric abstraction for those uninitiated with Kubrick’s adaptation of the Stephen King classic, the addition of green flock however another nod to the creative process used in architectural and landscape model building.

Nathaniel’s work has featured in group exhibitions at Subsidiary Projects, London (‘Extended Call pt.3’, curated by Billy Frazer, 2018) Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix Gallery, London (‘Megalopolis’, 2017) and with Kristian Day (‘arc.’ at Herrick Gallery, London, 2018). Recent duo exhibitions included 2019’s ‘Italian For Beginners’ with Joe Richardson at Apthorp Gallery, London, and ‘showerthoughts’ with Gillies Adamson Semple at San Mei Gallery, London.

Website/Instagram

 

Elliot Jack Stew

commixture

Elliot Jack Stew, Hand Job I, Oil on canvas, 2019

 

Elliot recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, UAL (London).

Elliot’s work explores the boundaries that exist between the public and the private, evidenced in this new ‘Hand Job’ series of works by the use of forced point of view, placing the audience in the position of the protagonist. Intimacy is again implied not only by the works tongue-in-cheek title but also the hand suggestive placing atop the assumed bed sheets. The depiction of hands as well as the works autobiographical context invokes the art historical tradition of ‘The Artist Hand’ and the ways in which artists try to hide, or in Elliot’s case embrace, their mark making.

Elliot had his debut UK solo exhibition earlier this year at Cass Art, London (‘Poster Boy’), and has featured in 2018’s East Wing Biennial (‘SURGE’) at The Courtauld, London. Elliot is also the co-founder of the ‘Collective Cuba Project’ residency programme in Havana, Cuba.

 Website/Instagram

 

Helen Waldburger

commixture

Helen Waldburger, Slippery Fingers, Watercolour, oil and oil pastel on cotton, 2019

 

Helen recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, UAL (London), having previously completed her Diploma in Art and Design at Camberwell College of Arts.

Helen’s work combines memories, thoughts, dreams and feelings to create scenes that are neither fact nor fiction but incorporate aspects of both to create a rich visual narrative. This layered approach to narrative composition is mirrored in the artist’s use of cotton canvases, which through their translucence expose the wooden support beneath, allowing for the expansion and extension of the works’ surface.

Helen’s work has featured in group exhibitions at Leyden Gallery, London (‘Platform For Emerging Arts 21’, Feb/March 2019), Stour Space, London (‘Sketchy London’, Aug 2018) and the Rag Factory, London (‘Sacred Blue’, 2016 & ‘Mother Russia’, 2015)

Website/Instagram

 

 

Cybi Williams

commixture

Cybi Williams, Gyn, Oil on canvas, 2019

 

Cybi recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, UAL (London).

 

Cybi’s practice exists at the intersection of digital and analogue, and questions their relationship while exploring ways to marry the two creatively. His new series of work started life as daily digital sketches, an ongoing creative routine that provides him with ample visual material from which he edits and selects images that will become larger works. ‘Gyn’ exists both as Cybi’s original digital rendering of the work, as well as this physical oil on canvas piece that retains all the hallmarks of its nascent digital beginnings, a trompe l’oeil for the technological age.

Cybi had his debut UK solo exhibition at BLANK 100, London (‘Cybi Williams’, Aug/Sept 2018), followed by ‘Mundane!’ at Roper Gallery, Bath in January of this year. He was also the winner of the 2018 Clyde & Co Art Award.

Website/Instagram

 

Rupert Whale

commixture

Rupert Whale, Remnant, Acrylic on canvas, 2019

 

Rupert recently graduated with an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, UAL (London), having previously completed his BA (Hons) at Middlesex University, London, and his Diploma in Art and Design at Exeter College of Art.

Taken from Rupert’s latest series ‘The Incomplete’, 2019’s ‘Remnant’ displays the artist’s mastery of, and experimentation with, many painterly techniques as he approaches abstraction as device to investigate mark making and question the limits of the picture plane. The pastoral colours recall traditional landscape painting whilst the diverse range of expressive lines and brushstrokes evoke digital composition and avant-garde art movements such as graffiti, punk and abstract expressionism.

Rupert’s recent solo exhibitions include ‘Critical Mass’ at Cloisters Temple, London (2018) and ‘Rupert Whale’ at The Stonespace Gallery, London (2018). Rupert’s work is featured in collections including the University of the Arts London Collection and the Tim Sayer Collection (bequeathed to The Hepworth Museum, Wakefield).

Website/Instagram

 

 

For more of Hector Campbell’s Top Fives

Drawing Biennial at The Drawing Room

Subversive Stitch at TJ Boulting


ANTIHERO – Benjamin Murphy in Helsinki

ANTIHERO is British artist Benjamin Murphy‘s 6th solo exhibition, and his 2nd in Helsinki following 2016’s ‘Vile Oblivion’.

 

To enquire about available works, please click HERE
Antihero

Black electrical tape on glass (encased in clear resin) FRAMED

ANTIHERO, however, marks a stark departure from what we already know, or think we know, of Benjamin and his work. Having spent much of his artistic career occupying a rare and liminal position within the conventional art world at large, his work bearing the hallmarks of many artistic movements and trends and yet never being fully identified or categorized within them, Benjamin has decided to eschew all preconceived expectations and assumptions about his work. The unconventional nature of Benjamin’s chosen medium (black electrical tape on glass) defies easy classification by being neither drawing, painting, nor sculpture has often seen him the outlier of many a group exhibition. But not dissimilar to the journey of maturity experienced by the titular character of Hans Christian Anderson’s 19th-century morality tale, it is after many years of honing his skill and singular vision in the artistic wilderness that Benjamin is able to thrive when given the platform of a solo exhibition. ANTIHERO, therefore, is Benjamin’s most earnest attempt at encapsulating his work and presenting it to the audience in exactly the way he deems fit, away from any outside influence.

ANTIHERO also marks an arrival, as, after many years with a sole focus on depicting predominantly female forms, Benjamin is presenting works portraying other genders for the first time. This change is due in part to growing frustration with the subject matter of his work, as well as an increased awareness that he’d had ended up operating from within his comfort-zone, and in part Benjamin’s realisation that he was representing only one type of beauty. By creating artworks that were popular and yet artistically safe, Benjamin was not only struggling to evolve as an artist but also neglecting the aesthetic beauty of other body-types ANTIHERO, therefore, can also be seen as a creative course correction for Murphy, away from his comfort zone and towards more challenging and rewarding lines of artistic enquiry.

Benjamin carries this anti-establishment and individuality through into his other artistic endeavors, principally among them Delphian Gallery, which he co-founded with friend and fellow artist Nick JS Thompson in 2017. Delphian manages to circumvent the traditional gallery model by operating as a nomadic curatorial practice, presenting the most exciting and innovative emerging and early-career artists on a national and increasingly international stage. They are also pioneers in harnessing the creative potential of social media, and their most recent annual open call competition garnered over 10,000 submissions from a global community of artists.

Benjamin’s prolific lust for learning, achieved through both a BA, MA and multiple online higher education courses, as well as his own personal autodidactism, not only sees his work imbued with many literary, art historical and philosophical references, but also sees him occupy the position of Associate Lecturer at University of the Arts London. Benjamin also writes extensively on art theory for a number of periodicals and publications.
ANTIHERO, finally, should be seen less as the presentation of a new body of work and more as the culmination of Benjamin’s last 7 years navigating the pearls and pitfalls of maintaining an artistic life, continuously experimenting and innovating whilst enriching his solo practice through a pervasive programme of reading, writing, curating, creating, lecturing, and most importantly, learning.
Hector Campbell, Art Historian, Writer and Curator

Private View – 18:00-22:00 03/07/19
Korkeavuorenkatu 7, 00140 Helsinki
The show then runs until the 11th.
To join us for the private view, please click HERE

For more by Benjamin Murphy, go HERE

 

Exhibition graciously supported by Paja&Bureau and Creat.


Selling Art Online – the new free book from creativehub.

Our friends over at creativehub have just announced the release of their free book, Selling Art Online 2019!

selling art online

This is an evolution of their 2018 edition, which sold over 15K copies with a 96% approval rating. We have given out copies of this book at a few of our panel discussions since it was released, and creativehub founder Stuart Waplington joined us for one discussion in 2018 to discuss the very subject featured in the book.

Selling Art Online 2019 is packed full of new and updated chapters along with fresh case studies from the ‘new wave’ of artists making their names, and serious sales revenue, online. This will be a great resource for artists hoping to sell their work online, and it is super easy to get hold of your own free copy.

Occasional Delphian collaborator Kate Mothes (founder of groundbreaking curatorial platform Young Space) shares her wisdom on all things Instagram, and how artists can use this as a marketing tool to create traffic online.

With multiple other case studies and 8 chapters, Selling Art Online 2019 gives you everything you need to get set up in just one day.

ORDER YOUR FREE COPY HERE

To order your free copy online head to store.creativehub.io or collect your free copy in person at their
London print studio; theprintspace, 74 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DL.


The Delphian Podcast – FIRST EPISODE

The Delphian Podcast is NOW LIVE!

the delphian podcast

For this first episode, we sit down with Kate Mothes, a curator and arts organiser currently based in the American Midwest. Kate runs Young Space, a curatorial project and online platform which emphasises new and exciting work by early-career and emerging artists. We talk about how it is to work outside of a major arts hub, online exhibitions, and how social media is changing the landscape for the arts.

 

The first episode can be listened on our website HERE, or on Spotify or the Podcast app.