We are very excited to announce that we will be hosting Jordy Kerwick’s first ever UK solo show this December!
More info will be released soon, but if you would like to register your interest in purchasing a painting or print, please email info@delphiangallery.com
Jordy Kerwick
For more works like the one above, check out his work HERE, and to learn more about his amazing work go HERE
We were recently interviewed by art historian Hector Campbell for Arrested Motion, who recently sat down with our co-founder Benjamin Murphy, to discuss the history of the gallery, our own unique approach to curation, our inaugural Open Call exhibition, and the upcoming exhibition with Florence Hutchings, Seating Arrangement.
Hector Campbell (HC): Delphian Gallery has existed in one manifestation or another since 2013’s ‘Group Collective are Kunsts’ exhibition, could you explain how the gallery first came about? And how it has subsequently evolved into its current model?
Benjamin Murphy (BM): My co-director (photographer Nick JS Thompson) and I have been working together for a number of years after we met when he wrote an article about me in a magazine he used to manage. I went on to write for the magazine, and we both started co-curating one another’s shows. We both developed a deep love of, and interest in, the art of curation, and so decided to curate our first show in my old studio. It has been a real labour of love for us, which has built gradually into what Delphian is now – a peripatetic style gallery that takes the championing of exciting, emerging art as its key aim.
HC: Delphian, meaning ‘Obscurely Prophetic,’ derives from the Greek mythological oracle at Delphi. What was the rationale behind choosing ‘Delphian’, and how does it’s meaning underpin the gallery’s vision?
BM: Well firstly, we wanted something that was Googleable, as well as something less vapid than just both of our surnames. We decided upon Delphian because it is vague enough to not be too constrictive in what we can show, as well as being something with its own character. “Obscurely Prophetic” is, in a concise two-word phrase, one which we believe all the best art accomplishes. We believe that the most successful and thought-provoking work is informative, but in a non-didactic way.
Delphian Team – Directors Benjamin Murphy & Nick JS Thompson, and Curator Wingshan Smith
HC: As an artist-run gallery, what advantages or insights does this offer you, as opposed to more traditional gallerist or art dealers?
BM: I think we understand the position of the artist more than a lot of gallerists or curators do, as we are both artists in our own right. This gives us a unique insight into both sides of the coin in terms of how a show is put together and run, from the artwork production point, up until the curation of a show and the sale of an artwork.
As well as this, we try to curate cohesive shows that could be read as a single artwork in their own right. The way we curate is quite experimental, as we believe there is nothing less interesting (or damaging to the artworks themselves), as a show in which all of the artworks are hung at eye-level around the gallery. These types of shows often encourage people to stand in the middle of the room and just rotate themselves 360 degrees, they leave feeling like they have seen all of the artworks – when of course they often haven’t. We want to curate shows that are essentially immersive artworks in themselves, that are ethereal and only exist in the moment, until the heterogeneous works are divided up again and are either sold or sent back to the artists. We believe that curation is an art form in itself, and it is this philosophy which guides how we curate.
HC: Previous exhibitions have included photographers Aaron McElroy and Carson Lancaster, and more recently contemporary painters such as Bertrand Fournier and Kevin Perkins. Does this range of artists and mediums reflect your personal interests? And how do you select which artists to exhibit?
BM: We try to show a diverse range of works that are entirely unique, whilst highlighting possible underlying connections or similarities, as well as playing with ways in which differing styles contrast. We spend a lot of time going to shows, as well as countless hours on social media, scrolling through things like Instagram looking for new talent. We also run a separate Instagram account called @Daily_Contemporary_Art, which is great for discovering new artists. Every week a new artist has control of the account and shares their favourite living artists, and we find that it is often the student artists that share the most exciting work.
Kevin Perkins
HC: You also had your most recent solo exhibition, Lavish Entropy, at the gallery earlier this year. How did this experience compare to your previous shows, acting as not only the artist but also the gallerist/curator?
BM: It was great, I often take a quite hands-on approach to the curation of my own shows anyway (often aided by Nick), so in that sense, this was no different. I’d recommend every artist do this at least once in your career, as when you have full creative control over something you can be as wild and as experimental as you like without anyone trying to curtail your vision. Don’t get me wrong – the curatorial teams at galleries are often incredibly helpful and teach me things about my own work that I wouldn’t have realised otherwise, but it can be incredibly freeing having absolutely no constraints sometimes. This kind of thing is great, and you are able to take bigger risks than usual, and this teaches you what does and doesn’t work in a way that you wouldn’t have been able to see without this freedom.
HC: This year the gallery ran your inaugural Open Call submission exhibition, why did you want to undertake this competition? And what did you learn from this first iteration?
BM: It was so great, and through it we discovered so much great art we wouldn’t have done if it weren’t for the open call. We wanted to make it as easy as possible to submit, so as to get the most submissions possible. We didn’t charge for entry, and our good friends at theprintspace printed and mounted it all for us, so there was no cost to the artists. This also meant that, as the artists only had to send us a jpeg, artists from all over the world could submit and not have to worry about shipping or insuring their work. We received over 8000 submissions in total and were awestruck by the diversity of it. There are many artists who we would have loved to have included but couldn’t because of size and space constraints. As well as Florence Hutchings, another of our favourite artists Bertrand Fournier entered, whom we hope to present a solo show with next year.
HC: For your latest exhibition, Florence Hutchings, who won the aforementioned Open Call competition, presents her debut solo show, Seating Arrangements. How important is it for you to champion young artists such as Florence?
BM: Florence is great, she has done so incredibly well at such a young age and yet still doesn’t really seem phased by it all. She is very down-to-earth, which is nice to see from someone who is already reaching levels of success that most artists can only dream of.
We aim to discover and support young, emerging artists because we feel this is where the most exciting and unique work is coming from. We are in a position to be able to help out the careers of these young artists like people did for us when we first started showing, so it is incredibly rewarding in that respect.
We get to nurture this often raw and unbridled talent early on in an artist’s career, and look forward to the time when artists like Florence outgrow us and sign with Gagosian – for it will happen, especially in her case.
To read this over on Arrested Motion, click THIS LINK
Andy Dixon at Beers London
For his first solo exhibition at Beers London, Andy Dixon presents Alchemy, an exhibition that brings together a collection of artworks depicting paintings-of-paintings and patrons’ homes.
Art has long had a tumultuous relationship with the matter of its own value. Seemingly arbitrary elements can positively or adversely affect the price at which a painting will sell. Take colour, for instance – paintings prominently featuring the colour red, for example, sell for a higher price point, due to it being a lucky colour in the Asian market.
Dixon plays with this discussion and subverts it somewhat, asking the question: what is the value of a painting of a valuable object? By depicting his own paintings situated in the living spaces of his patrons, he is adding to a lineage of artist studio paintings, in which the artist would paint their immediate surroundings. In the case of Matisse’s Red Studio, for example, these would often include examples of unfinished artworks. In Dixon’s pieces, the artworks’ grandiose properties seem diminished – their vividness lost amongst the similarly brightly-hued surroundings. They become just another item of furniture. Whilst Dixon most often depicts objects of wealth as created by others in his work – Versace jackets, silk shirts, Jeff Koons tote bags – in this series, he points to his own paintings as the commodity. In doing so, he knowingly eschews the creative aspects of his paintings for the commercial ones.
Andy Dixon at Beers London
It seems that Dixon has become willingly complicit in ‘the game’ which he has thus far admired from a short distance – but this is clearly the natural progression for his work. Other pieces on exhibit are those that can be interpreted as paintings-of-paintings, where acid-tinged renditions of reclining Venusses, equestrian portraits and erotic renaissance pieces are bordered by candy-hued gilded frames rendered in paint. By focussing on the depiction of these artistic tropes with such a contemporary style and colour palette, Dixon forces us to view them in a new light – without the barriers of who painted the work, or when it was created, we are forced to look at what is depicted on a much more surface level, and consider the capitalistic implications.The title of the show, Alchemy, is a reference to the traditional pursuit of turning a base metal into gold. And this is what Dixon manages to do so masterfully; he takes images which are so ubiquitous in Western art and, through his own kind of magic, creates something wholly new and desirable out of them.
Andy Dixon is hyper-aware of art’s relationship with money. Signifiers of wealth abound in his large acrylic paintings, which take as their subjects stately lords, reclining nudes, ornate ballrooms, bathing beauties, and prominent paintings of the aforementioned motifs. Borrowing content from Renaissance art, Flemish still lifes, and Google Image searches of “most expensive vases”, his subject matter is selected on the basis of public expectation of what an expensive painting should look like. By sampling content verified as valuable by the market, Dixon positions his own work to ask, “What is the value of a painting of a valuable object?”
Our value of art is truly a phenomenon that operates on a set of rules distinct from the ones that govern the rest of our world. Paintings which feature the tropes Dixon samples from perhaps at one time had social or political agency but are now simply commodities assigned value by the highest bidder. Paintings of expensive things are themselves expensive things collected by the wealthy to promote the luxury lifestyle. However, Dixon isn’t out to mock the affluent. Rather, he is a complicit player in the game; his larger paintings of upper class social scenes tend to feature his own previous paintings hanging on the walls in the background. As Alex Quicho writes in Luxury Object, Luxury Subject, “His postmodern non-interest in either vilifying or reifying luxury cooly transmutes its weirdness.” A self-taught painter, he treats his high-brow content in a crude manner, matching a vivid pastel palette with rough line treatment. His practice has recently expanded to include 3D sculptures which mimic the figures in his paintings—absurdly disproportionate, yet still created with an eye toward beauty. In this way, Dixon’s own appreciation of his subject matter is evident; and while his work questions the subjective valuation of artwork, it also proves that it doesn’t necessarily detract from its beauty.
ANDY DIXON (b. 1979, Vancouver, Canada) lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Solo exhibitions include: ‘Expensive Things II’, Winsor Gallery, Art Toronto (2016); ‘Expensive Things I’, Winsor Gallery, Art Toronto (2016); and ‘Leisure Studies’, RHG, New York (2015). Group exhibitions include: ’10 Year Anniversary’, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York (2018); ‘Art Seattle’, Windsor Gallery, Seattle (2017); and ‘Art Toronto’, Windsor gallery, Toronto (2016). Dixon first group exhibition with BEERS London was in ‘O Canada!’ (2017). Dixon’s solo showings with BEERS London include ‘Pronk!’, Volta Art Fair, New York (2017); and ‘How Much do They Cost?’, Pulse Art Fair, Miami (2017); with an upcoming solo show in the London gallery in October 2018.
Andy Dixon at Beers London
Before this, Beers hosted Kim Dorland’s great show, which can be read about HERE.
Masterclass with Benjamin Murphy at West London Art Factory. Supported by Jewel Goodby Contemporary and Cre8 Tapes.
Masterclass with Benjamin Murphy
West London Art Factory invites you to spend an evening with accredited artist Benjamin Murphy, learning to create your own artwork using electrical tape alone. This unique medium is one that makes Benjamin’s work instantly recognisable, as well as its monochromatic themes and figurative subjects. The masterclass offers you an opportunity to watch Benjamin’s process of creating his work and learn these techniques first hand, working with Ben to create your own unique piece. The class will begin with a welcome, followed by a demonstration by Benjamin then an opportunity for you to create your own work, guided by Benjamin, using a number of colours and tapes available, on an A3 perspex sheet. The result will be an original piece of art for you to take home.
No prior experience is needed, all levels are welcome and all material is provided. Drinks and refreshments will be available.
Please note, this class has limited spaces so be sure to secure your place!!
We recently asked 43 of our favourite artists, what is the one thing about the art world that they would disappear forever. Below are their answers.
Paul Weiner (@POWeiner) – American art school admissions and recruiting offices that convince unwitting 17 year olds to waste tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars while promising services and career advice they aren’t capable of rendering.
Charley Peters (@CharleyPeters) – Private Views where the wine is served out of plastic cups.
Remi Rough (@RemiRough) – The way galleries are completely unapproachable… if you want a job in hospitality you send your CV off in the art world sending work to a gallery is completely taboo!?
Jonny Green (@JonnyGreenArt) – The class system.
Richard Stone (@Artist_Stone) – I think the art world makes itself up as it goes along, there’s art worlds within worlds too and this can be incredibly frustrating for anyone. However, there’s always a few heroes, people like Michael Petry who go out of their way to shake things up, like curating emerging artists with very established, or challenging gender or sexuality disparity within art institutions for example.
Kevin Perkins (@Kevin_Perkins_) – Damien Hirst (can I say that?).
Sally Bourke (@Justondark) – Art prizes.
Klone Yourself (@KloneYourself) – I’m afraid it’s like Jenga, you take out one piece and everything might fall apart. But as an experiment I’d love to take out the ego from the art world and see what will happen.
Lee Johnson (@LeeJohnson.eu) – Reliance on – and (ab)use of – gallery interns ought to be overhauled. And exhibition ticket prices. I used to work in museums and know how expensive loans and insurance can be for blockbuster shows, but so many people can’t afford over £20 for a ticket.
Jenny Brosinski (@Jenny_Brosisnski) – Depressions.
Andy Dixon (@Andy.Dxn) – Honestly, I’ve learned to respect all aspects of the art world, even the elements that some may describe as dark or ugly. It’s like a fragile eco-system, you can’t just remove the dangerous tigers from the jungle and not expect the whole thing to fall apart.
Daisy Parris (@DaisyParris) – Exploitation of young artists.
Benjamin Murphy (@BenjaminMurphy_) – Contemporary Pop Art, or more specifically, 90% of Contemporary Pop Art. People need to stop with the painting of celebrities, and stop trying to be Andy Warhol.
Jake Chapman (@JakeChapmaniac) – Paint.
Tom Anholt (@TomAnholt) – Obsession of finding trends.
Spencer Shakespeare (@SpencerShakespeare) -Superficial privileged idiots. (I might be one of them I know).
Rowan Newton (@Rowan_Newton) – Galleries playing it safe.
Hayden Kays (@HaydenKays) – The thinking that it is of more importance than the real world.
Matthew Allen (@Matthew__Allen) – ATTITUDE!
Rae Hicks (@Rae_Hicks_On_Gangs) – Exploitation/people working for free and the static, non-flow of money.
Jonni Cheatwood (@Jonni_Cheatwood) – I have a love/hate relationship with the social media aspect of the art world. I’m grateful for the artist appreciation accounts that have posted my work because I have had some badass opportunities come my way as a result; but I have a hard time with it as well. Social media gives everyone a voice, which is incredible when it’s used for good, but it can be a dangerous place.
Andrew Salgado (@Andrew.Salgado.Art) – the horrible self-important attitudes that accompany a lot of people in the industry. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to be total ego-trips and profoundly unlikable.
Soumya Netrabile (@Netrabile) – I don’t know enough about it to have a strong opinion on the matter, but I have heard lots of people complain about the exclusivity—how hard it is to get your work seen by galleries.
Luke Hannam (@LukeHannamPaintings) – I hate the following words: works, practice, and contemporary.
Hedley Roberts (@HedleyRoberts) – Wannabe artists, curators, gallerists and dealers. These are really tough jobs to do well, they’re not lifestyle options.
Nick JS Thompson (@nickjsthompson) – Exhibition descriptions that are so “art speak” that it makes them exclusionary.
Neva Hosking (@NevaHosking) – Networking!
Justin Long (@_JustinLong) – @jeffkoons.
Erin Lawlor (@TheErinLawlor) – Pot plants in installations.
Tony Riff (@TonyRiff) – Egos… to be fair I haven’t really experienced much of that personally, but I’ve heard plenty of horror stories.
Justin Lee Williams (@ArtJLW) – I love and hate it all, so I’m not sure on this one…
Wingshan Smith (@wingshansmith) – Zero-hour contracts and grey carpets at art fairs.
Fiona Grady (@Fiona_Grady) – Unpaid ‘opportunities,’ occasionally I’m approached by companies offering me a commission where there’s no fee or money for materials. You’d never ask a decorator to paint your house for free and tell them it’s a good opportunity for exposure – there needs to be a better culture in the arts for paying artists fairly.
Jordy Kerwick (@JordyKerwick) – Snobs.
Obit (@LazyObit) – Bloggers. They’re pointless, they’re powerless and they’re parasites.
Johnny Thornton (@_JohnnyThornton) – The pretension and elitism that exists in parts of the NYC art scene.
Magnus Gjoen (@MagnusGjoen) – Artists obsessed with what everyone else is doing and not concentrating on their own craft.
Jesse Draxler (@JesseDraxler) – Everything besides the art.
Richie Culver (@RichieCulver) – Some of my early works.
Martin Lukac (@Martin.Lukac) – I don’t have any problems like that. Everything is balanced and time will prove what is good and what’s not.
Mevlana Lipp (@Mevlana_Lipp) – Sexism.
Danny Romeril (@D_Romeril) – The price of studios and paint.
Florence Hutchings (@FlorenceBH) – Art school snobbiness.
Catherine Haggarty (@Catherine_Haggarty) – Sometimes – instagram. But mostly white men who control shows and advertising and sales. Diversity is needed! Thankfully seeing more women run spaces and artists taking back control!
For more of these, see what the same artists would give as advice to young artists at the start of their careers HERE
What would YOU advise an artist at the beginning of their career? Let us know in the comments below.
Ceramics and other mediums of tactile sculpture are having a real revival in popularity at the moment, so here is our list of the ten most exciting ceramicists that you should be following on Instagram right now.
Kevin McNamee-Tweed (@CottonTweed)
Kevin’s ceramics are often two-dimensional and wall-mounted, making them both painting and sculpture in one. The way in which he creates the lines is by inscribing them into the raw clay pre-firing.
View this post on Instagram
Frederik Næblerød (@Naeblerod)
Frederik is a painter as well as one of the best ceramicists, but we couldn’t leave him off the list when he does such incredible work as this gold head below.
Brian Rochefort (@EnergyGloop)
The textures and colours in Brian’s work make them look so tasty that we just want to eat them.
Dan T Mccarthy (@DanTMccarthy)
It is impossible to not love Dan’s quirky ‘Facepots’,
Tom Volkaert (@C0ldChain)
Tom’s work is messy and disordered, and immensely beautiful.
Laurence Owen (@LaurenceOwen)
“He employs the recognisable with connotative values that we associate with object and time. By considering Folklore, Paganism and early Mythology he investigates how these specific belief systems are connected to contemporary consumerist culture through ideas of ritual and worship.”
The private view for Florence Hutchings’ current show with us was incredible, with all of the paintings selling out in the first 45 minutes! We have a limited number of these exquisite fine art prints still available for any of you who missed out on getting a painting.
Each print is a limited edition run of 5 prints, which are supplied with certificate of authenticity to provide limited edition provenance. They are 30 x 40 cm / 12″ x 16″ including a small white border for easy framing, and are archival Giclée prints with an archival lifespan of up to 200 years.
Presented on Hahnemühle Photo Rag premium Fine Art paper with a slightly off white, matt finish paper with guaranteed archival properties. The paper gives muted blacks with even colour reproduction, and excellent detail. It has a minimal texture and a chalky smooth cotton feel which creates smooth colour gradients.
Each are editions of five, with only a couple at most still remaining of each.
You can find them HERE
We asked 45 of our favourite artists what was the one bit of advice they would give to a young artist at the start of their career. Here are their answers.
Paul Weiner (@POWeiner) – Find a hole in art history that you feel passionate about and fill it, document your work, and put it out in the world both physically and digitally to build an audience around it.
Remi Rough (@RemiRough) – Don’t run before you can walk…
Charley Peters (@CharleyPeters) – Design your life to get what you need to develop your work – enough money, space and time to do what you want to do…be brave, work hard, and be kind to people in the process.
Jonny Green (@JonnyGreenArt) – Look at the most fashionable and successful artist in your peer-group. Copy their work, copy their clothes, try and speak like them, kill them, be them. Voila!
Richard Stone (@Artist_Stone) – I can’t recall who said it, but it was something like, remember, you’re a good artist at 40, a great artist at 50. I’m not saying that artists don’t make really strong work early on, but I think there’s something honest about how much you have to grow and how resilient you need to be.
Kevin Perkins (@Kevin_Perkins_) – Explore, be open to exploring technique, medium, etc. Don’t put yourself into a box to quickly.
Sally Bourke (@Justondark) – Work! Then keep working!
Lee Johnson (@LeeJohnson.eu) – Just keep on making and looking.
Jenny Brosinski (@Jenny_Brosisnski) – Be yourself.
Andy Dixon (@Andy.Dxn) – You won’t get respect for work you haven’t done yet. Put in the work first and everything else will come later.
Klone Yourself (@KloneYourself) – Be true to yourself and don’t give up on your principles. Also look into the history and the news, you’re part of this world, be aware. And don’t take it as a career, at least not in the beginning, this ain’t accounting or law practice. Take it easy and respect your peers.
Daisy Parris (@DaisyParris) – Make work constantly. Try anything and everything.
Richie Culver (@RichieCulver) – Probably, go to art School. I didn’t go and I really struggle with that. Fearing I missed something or that my career would be in a better place if I had
Jake Chapman (@JakeChapmaniac) – Anticipate a tragic end.
Benjamin Murphy (@BenjaminMurphy_) – Stick to your guns: don’t try to follow fashions or cater to market demand.
Tom Anholt (@TomAnholt) – Work harder than you think you need to and be a nice person.
Spencer Shakespeare (@SpencerShakespeare) – Draw from life draw without thought draw with different things on different things. Have fun drawing let it be free of any reason. Experiment.
Rowan Newton (@Rowan_Newton) – Enjoy being able to do your craft 24/7 and experiment with it as much as possible. Coz it will be the only time u have that amount of freedom, in terms of both your art and time.
Hayden Kays (@HaydenKays) – Don’t buy cheap paint, it’s a waste of your money and more importantly, a waste of your time.
Matthew Allen (@Matthew__Allen) – It may go without saying, but, make strong, well thought-out work. This is the foundation of your career and through whatever ups and downs or trends you should always be able to come back to a firmly grounded practice.
Rae Hicks (@Rae_Hicks_On_Gangs) – Don’t believe a word anyone says. Almost everything – proclamations, snide digs, hubris, advice, and eulogising – is nonsense. Absolutely no one has the faintest idea what the fuck is going on.
Jonni Cheatwood (@Jonni_Cheatwood) – Read your contracts! Make sure you know what you’re getting into. After that, show up and get to work, and then have patience and then have thick skin.
Andrew Salgado (@Andrew.Salgado.Art) – work twice as hard and worry half as much. and don’t expect too much too soon: its a marathon, not a sprint, and too much attention too early can actually turn out to harm your career in the long-run.
Soumya Netrabile (@Netrabile) – Designate a certain amount of time daily to make art without distractions, and with focus and intention.
Luke Hannam (@LukeHannamPaintings) – Don’t settle on a style too quickly, even if it gets you attention.
Hedley Roberts (@HedleyRoberts) – Being an artist is a long term project, keep going no matter what. If you’re still making work when you’ve been rejected, when there are no sales, and there are no exhibition opportunities; if you’re working other jobs to support your art work, if you keep going no matter what… then you’re a successful artist.
Nick JS Thompson (@nickjsthompson) – Keep doing what you’re doing. It sounds like a massive cliché, which it is, but I think it’s really easy to fall into the trap of making more of the type of work that gets a good response on social media and thinking that that is the direction you should go in but often may not be.
Neva Hosking (@NevaHosking) – Paid dues don’t pay rent, don’t let people take advantage of you. I used to be so flattered people liked my work that I let them walk all over me, still learning.
Justin Long (@_JustinLong) – @brettgorvy
Erin Lawlor (@TheErinLawlor) – Be curious/work hard.
Tony Riff (@TonyRiff) – Never stop doing personal work, that’s rule number one for me, just keep a small sketchbook around, developing your own style really just comes from a lot of trial and error, something you might not discover if the only work you do is for other people.
Justin Lee Williams (@ArtJLW) – To take every artist that gives you advice and understand it’s just advice, and there is no right or wrong way to approach being a artist. Also to not be so hard on yourself, the work u are making now will not at all be the same work you produce 10 or 20 years into the future, so let it go and learn fast.
Wingshan Smith (@WingshanSmith) – Support each other. Share resources, go to each other’s PVs when you can, and don’t forget to check in (or out) if you need to.
Fiona Grady (@Fiona_Grady) – To enjoy their practice! You can tell when an artist is engaged and excited by what they are doing. There’s a lot of pressure on young artists to be ‘discovered’ but takes time and hard work to develop your career.
Jordy Kerwick (@JordyKerwick) – Paint or draw or create every single day.
Obit (@LazyObit) – It took me a while to realise that no one in the world knows what they’re doing, everyone is blagging it, wish I knew that younger. Also people will be earning a lot more than you for doing a lot less so don’t stress about overpricing yourself. Most importantly be good to people and they’ll look after you.
Anthony Cudahy (@AnthonyCudahy) – Follow your instincts and trust yourself. Not everything people say you should do is something ‘you’ should do, and that applies also to not everything people say you shouldn’t do.
Johnny Thornton (@_JohnnyThornton) – Don’t wait for inspiration, just work. Even the most common and mundane art exercise can lead to big ideas. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and definitely don’t expect all your work to be good; bad work is part of the process and you will learn from it.
Magnus Gjoen (@MagnusGjoen) – Think about what you’re going to do next and develop. Don’t stand still and get comfortable.
Jesse Draxler (@JesseDraxler) – Don’t take other’s advice. .
Martin Lukac (@Martin.Lukac) – Be yourself work as hard as you can and go full power all the time.
Mevlana Lipp (@Mevlana_Lipp) – Take your time.
Danny Romeril (@D_Romeril) – I am young still but I guess be yourself and do what you want and make sure you keep enjoying it then hopefully its still fresh.
Florence Hutchings (@FlorenceBH) – Work as hard as possible the whole time and always stick to being yourself-don’t let the pressure of art school change who you are!
Catherine Haggarty (@Catherine_Haggarty) – Be very active and generous to the artists around you! Keep Your over head very low and make work all the time with no concern of showing or selling! It’s a marathon!
We were recently interviewed by those over at CUB Magazine about two of our most-recent shows.We talked about our Open Call exhibition, and the winner of the competition (Florence Hutchings)’s solo show Seating Arrangement.
A snippet of our interview is below, to read the entire thing follow the link at the bottom.
As a gallery in general, a big part of what we aim to do is discover the newest, most exciting artists, right before their careers takes off. Running an open-call exhibition is a great way to discover these, and we tried to remove every barrier which may stop a young artist from submitting; we made it free to enter, and we made it a print-only show so that all people had to do was upload a high-quality jpeg to creativehub and our friends at theprintspace would print and mount them. This made it incredibly easy and risk-free to enter, so because of this we got over 8000 submissions, from countries all over the world, and were able to show some artists who’d never exhibited in London before – in some cases, who’d never exhibited anywhere before.
Dorland has long explored the concept of Memento Mori, which, when translated from Latin, means ‘remember that you have to die’, and represents one of the longest standing conventions in the history of art-making. In early history, Romans of the Stoic school of Philosophy pronounced the need to face death in a steadfast manner: ‘Death smiles at us all,’ wrote Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius before his death in the year 180 AD, ‘all we can do is smile back.’ Art history traces various religious beliefs and the paintings that accompanied myriad historical periods as reminders of the need to eschew earthly pursuits and work towards living a Godly life. This fascination with death can be traced back to as recently as the Victorians, whose Memento Mori photographs depicted the living posed next to bodies of deceased family members, like morbid curios of a bygone era.
It is a way of thinking that seems to have been lost on most western cultures in recent times. For Kim Dorland, ‘Terror Management Theory’ is a contemporary reimagining of Memento Mori: ‘a psychological theory,’ he states, ‘about being confronted with the knowledge of our death, and how that makes us act and think… it has been very much on my mind these days that the state we’re in on so many different fronts (environment, politics) is pretty ominous.’
Perhaps as humans we have always felt we were living near the proverbial ‘end times’. The Great War, World War II, the Cold War – all modern-world examples where humanity seemed to lie under a proverbial Sword of Damocles*, its future tentative and uncertain. And Dorland’s work has always housed a sort of unease, eeriness, or looming sense of danger – even when at his most playful. This tendency towards normalisation in the face of such world-changing events – is it testament to mankind’s resilience or naivety? Art has always reacted to its social and political context, and it seems that Dorland is responding as such:
Damocles is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote commonly referred to as “the Sword of Damocles”, an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Wikipedia
KIM DORLAND (b. 1974, Alberta, Canada) lives and works in Vancouver, Canada. He graduated with an MFA from York University, Toronto, in 2013, and a BFA from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, in 1998. Solo Exhibitions include: ‘Same Old Future’. Arsenal Contemporary, New York City (2018); ‘Nemophilia’, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver (2017); ‘Get Out’, Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran, Montreal (2017); and ‘I know that I know Nothing’, Angell Gallery, Toronto (2016). Group exhibitions include: ‘Aidas Bareikis, Kim Dorland & Bill Saylor’, Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2016); and ‘Major Works’, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver (2016). Dorland was the Globe and Mail’s ‘Artist of the Year 2013’. His works can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Alberta, Musée D’art Contemporain De Montréal, The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, The Richard Prince Collection, the Taschen Collection and The Contemporary Art Foundation in Japan. Dorland’s first group exhibition with BEERS London was in ‘O Canada!’ (2017). He will have his first solo exhibition with BEERS London in September 2018, entitled, ‘Terror Management Theory’.