@londonart blog

by Suzanne Harb

‘Under the Influence’ by Manifold

04.07-11.08.2013

Siobhan Davies Studios

The Siobhan Davies Studios and 60|40 have teamed up for the fifth year running to allow the chance for artists to respond to this unique space while re-examining their own crafts. This final installment in the crafts collective’s Starting Point series sees Manifold, a group of 9 artists and designers, utilise this unique space over a 3-month residency. 

Manifold is a diverse group who set up their studio in 2010 after graduation from The Royal College of Arts. Their individual activities include sculpture, drawing, digital art, textiles and hand modeling to name a few. Although diverse in their approach they are united in their need to portray processes, to their surroundings and progressive approaches to age-old ways of making.

As I approached the façade of the Siobhan Davies Studios I walked faster in anticipation of discovering the full charm of this converted school building from the late 1800’s. I had read about it but I was eager to see for myself the finished product of the work of Davies and architect Sarah Wigglesworth and the structure that would provide inspiration for the 9 artists in question. I was met with a clean, modern interior. The stairs placed outside the building, suspended from steel cords leading you up to the main studio on the top floor. A vast magnificent space tucked into London’s skyline with its warm wooden walls and sprung floors unique ceiling. However it is not this abundant space that these objects of in inspiration inhabit, but the meandering staircase and the short corridors filled with natural light. It is an intimate way of displaying the intimate objects that that make up the first part of this residency, moving in and out of the main body of the building as we view inside the artist’s mind. It is during this primary stage that the artists have taken to approaching this residency in a unique way and have decided to display the things that have influenced them and their artistic careers. 

The displays are diverse and unique to each artist.  The displays encompass personal photo albums and patchwork quilts to works from notable artists such as Gary Hume and illustrations by Quentin Blake. They wanted to utilise the residency to facilitate a truer response and to share something very personal.

When talking to Bethan Lloyd Worthington, she stated that as a group they decided quite early on that they wanted their time here to display a process. She said ‘we simply wanted to start at the beginning’, this meant the beginnings of their careers, even though they may not have known it at the time. A look into those people or objects that have gone on to inform their work and the work that they will produce here at The Siobhan Davies Studios. 

Worthington's personal offerings

Among Lloyd Worthington’s offerings is Maisie Broadhead’s ‘Made in Britton’ (2011) is as Lloyd Worthington states ‘I think it encapsulates much of what we want to say with the show as a whole.’ A photograph of a member of Broadhead’s family, holding an earthenware jug from Bernard Leach’s course collection and surrounded by some of her own works. It is this layered meaning and influenced from a number of sources that is indicative of what Manifold is striving to convey.  Another of Bethan’s contributions is a personal photograph of her Grandfather, a lay preacher, historian and teacher. It was taken at home once owned by the family highlighting her interest in sense of place and location.

Kim's taster of what is to come

Sue Ae Kim, a member of Manifold who has worked with ceramics has, on this occasion decided to explore the use of porcelain as a mode to respond to the context of the gallery. Her display at Under the Influence comprises of postcards depicting decorative porcelain figurines by Joseph Willems from the V&A.  Ae Kim said that she had been looking a lot at the work of Willems as the detailed figurines and the use of porcelain itself would be an appropriate way to relate to the strong background of dance that the gallery is famous for. She also displays books relating to Willems influence, Meissen porcelain. Ae Kim also mentioned that she was also taking dance classes at the studios, taking this time to draw and dance, I can’t wait to see what the culmination of this processes will be later on in the year. It is this overt reference to influence, context and process (that in this case is cross cultural and cross generational) that really sums up what the group’s ethos and what they are trying to do here.

This interesting and fresh take on a residency and the portrayal of process in a highly personal manner is what makes Under the Influence so special. I loved this introduction to the group and the way in which it can lead the viewer to assess their own influences, sentimentality and achievements. The group didn’t want to simply create a site specific art work they have instead created a respective insight into the their crafts. I look forward to what Unfold (6 – 22 September) will have to offer.

photo by Anja Schaffner

Q1: Congratulations on winning the Inaugural Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Prize. Could you share with us the nomination/selection process and your feeling of receiving the award?

A: I was so thrilled to learn that I had won the Perrier-Jouet prize.  Even being nominated for such a prestigious new award was an honour.  The prize is wonderful in that consists not only of a generous cash award, but also travel to both France and Design Miami, which will broaden my horizons; I have never been to either France or America.  And preparing for my first solo exhibition in such a wonderful setting as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel is a dream come true.   

Large Leaves Bowl

Q2: Your education and career spans between East & West. What made you decide to pursue your study and career in Europe?

A: I was enjoying making ceramics in Japan but I became interested in Scandinavian design. That is the first reason to come to Europe. Also, I simply wanted to try to see what life and work was like outside of Japan.

Black Camellia Box

Q3: Your works are very different in Japan & in the UK, there seems to be a shift from the abstract yet colourful style to a more figurative but minimal style. What are the creative inspirations behind them respectively?

A: I use a technique initially inspired by Josiah Wedgwood’s Jasperware, in which thin ceramic reliefs or ‘sprigs’ are applied as surface decoration to a piece. I wanted to make innovative pieces featuring the sprigging technique, but to move away from the traditional use of sprigs solely as ornament, and to attempt to work with ceramic sprigs in a new and sculptural way. Extensive experimentation with different methods and clay bodies enabled me to create two new ways to use the sprigging technique.  One was to cover the entire surface of a shape with sprigs; the other was to construct asculptural object solely out of many layers of sprigs.

The subjects of my current work are shapes inspired by leaves and flowers.  I study botanical forms in the garden. I find myself drawn to the intricacy of plants, examining the veins of a leaf, how its edges are shaped, the layering of a flower’s petals.  I look, I touch, I draw.

Shirakawa Bowl

Q4: You have been living in London for some time. How do you feel about the city - what are the things you love most here and you don't miss at all when you are away?

A: I like many kinds of cultures in London. In a one-minute walkfrom my studio, I can have very good Moroccan food, pastries from Portugal, pizza, Indian food. The thing I would miss least about London is being packed like sushi in the Tube at rush hour.  

Black Dancing Leaves Box

Q5: What are your future plans after the St Pancras Chambers Club exhibition?

A: I will engage with new and inspiring experiences, and pursue creative challenges within my craft.

The more I look at the natural world, the more I have begun to feel the importance of the concept of flow in nature. I believe this is the heart of nature. From small, minute elements such as leaves to grand magnificent views, they are all in flow.   Flow is what makes nature alive.

In this sense, the flow seems to me to be confined to that small scale in my current work. What I would like to do is to make a whole form itself also become an element to express the active movement in nature.  I would like to challenge it at a larger scale I have ever done. I believe the result will show the dynamic energy of nature and make my work more exciting and more true to the natural world.    

This aim will bring both technical and artistic challenges to my current working methods.  Conveying flow on both a small and a large scale means that I will need to develop my techniques further to enable complex constructions in porcelain by experiments and research.  For the new work, I would also like to expand and widen my inspiration from nature beyond the familiar plants in my immediate environment. I intend to visit the collections, archives and libraries of botanical institutions like the Royal Horticultural Society and Kew Gardens to research extinct plants, or plants in countries I have never visited to see which of these will be most suitable to adapt into porcelain. I would like to concentrate deeply on this research and experiments taking enough time, possibly 3 -4 months.

(all photos of works above are provided by the artist)

*****

Further Reading -

Page: Ceramicist Hitomi Hosono wins inaugural Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Prize by Jessica Klingelfuss on *Wallpaper.com, 08.04.2013

Malgorzata Dzierzon, photo by Filipe Alcada

The Grade II listed Welsh Chapel on Shaftesbury Avenue, originally designed by James Cubitt in 1888 and counting 1980’s super-club ‘The Limelight’ amongst its past tenants, would soon host an exciting multi-disciplinary dance show for 2 weeks called NEST. Dance, architecture, animation and interactive light technologies combine to create a tapestry of exploration and adventure. Becoming directly involved with a promenade dance performance the audience are free to weave their own experience, threads of movement, structure, and live music draw participants around the striking spaces and hidden corners of a disused former chapel.

We have interviewed the producer & co-choreographer Malgorzata Dzierzon to learn more about the production.

Q1: New Movement Collective is a group of dancers and choreographers. Could you tell us a bit more about how this idea of coming together started?

A: New Movement Collective was formed in 2009 and currently consists of 11 members. Many of us have worked together at some point for Rambert , but our dancers/choreographers  come from diverse backgrounds and have worked with Mathew Bourne’s New Adventures, Wayne McGregor/Random Dance Company and Manchester- based Company Chameleon among others.

There were many choreographers emerging from within the group at the time, often dancing in each other’s work and we wanted to form a platform to showcase our choreography and continue the collaboration.

As NMC we presented 2 separate evenings of choreography, curated by Clara Barbera in Spain, but found that the traditional platforms for dance, such as theatres were quite difficult or too expensive to access.

During this time we started a partnership with AAIS (Architectural Association Interprofessional Studio) which is a post graduate course in performance and design with focus on collaboration, where we take turns to tutor a group of 5-6 students each year. 

This partnership added a new dimension to our work and created performance opportunities in unusual settings - a derelict building in Covent Garden, Matadoro Cultural Centre in Madrid, a post industrial building-turn gallery space in Cologne, Zaha Haidid-designed Roca Gallery in London.

Last year we created our first independently produced full length work, commissioned by Will Alsop for Testbed 1, a 650 sq meters ex-diary space in Battersea. Casting Traces was based on Paul Auster's New York Trilogy and performed within a giant architect-designed paper labyrinth. Following the opening performance we were approached by Stone Nest (former Welsh Chapel) and invited to visit and pitch a production proposal for their building in Shaftesbury Avenue. After a few weeks and several brain storming meetings with a group of invited collaborators we came up with a performance and design concept for NEST, based on Homer's Odyssey.

photo by Laurent Liotardo

Q2: the venue of NEST has not been used for a period of time, what are the key challenges you face when you first started to plan the show in this space? (Any particular exiting or frustrating moments you would like to share with us?)

A: The venue had an immediate appeal to us, not just because of its central location but also its lay out -  visiting the rooms of the former Chapel takes you on a real journey. We wanted to create a performance which gives the public a sense of freedom to explore, yet has enough structure for them to follow. 

The Chapel has gradually revealed itself to us, it has now been stripped down from the remains of the night club/bar era, and the original features became a lot more visible. We wanted to celebrate the building in its glory, so our designs needed to be sensitive and respond to the surroundings, unlike in a theatre, where you can create a new world with the scenery for every act, without e consideration of the building's style or history.

We put a funding application in before Christmas and while we had been able to start the  artistic planning with collaborators beforehand, it would be had been difficult to recruit a crew and technical manager without offering a guarantee of pay and you really need that expertise and man power as early as possible in a venue where all equipment needs to be brought in for the performance. The facilities are being improved for the opening and we are now working with a small technical team, but it is a huge job to provide power and transform the rooms in order to create the desired experience for the public.

Photo by  Andrej Uspenski

Q3: What are the differences between a project in the traditional performance venue and one in an alternative venue like this?

A: Every building is different, unlike with a more traditional performance you can't just turn up with a show and expect to re-created it as is. Each building will have its own technical and access challenges, for the performers and public alike.

The venues we have worked with offer the use of the building and give us a lot of artistic freedom, which is absolutely amazing,  but unlike theatres they don't have departments dedicated to fund-raising, marketing or technical support of the production, so that's our sole responsibility - in addition to choreographing and performing the work. 

Nest Trailer 2 from new movement on Vimeo.

Q4: There are a lot of collaborators from other creative areas involved in the production. How do you feel about the process and how would the production began to take shape with all the various inputs from different directions?

A: We have gathered a team of architects, lighting technology artists, costume designer and composer quite early on. They were all invited to pitch and discuss the ideas together, but their sides of production are being delivered across a staggered time line. 

It was important  for us to have the main set component early, in order to respond and choreograph with it, so the structure designed by architects from Studio Weave was finished a month before the opening. The music composition was delivered around the same time, but with the input from MLF (interactive lighting technologies), Chris and Anna ( the composers) continued to tweak it until a few days last week. We needed the costumes to be delivered quite early in order to generate some production images for marketing and test how the proposed reflective material "behaves" in the light. All departments are invited to feedback, so it was good to allow this time to accommodate any specific requests.

The choreography was developed in a series of research periods and then shared online, as we often work from remote locations in the early stages of the production.

This method has its challenges but also gives perspective and allows more time for reflection. However, it feels good to have everyone working in the same space in the final weeks leading up to the opening - it makes for a lot more enjoyable and productive process. 

Nest Trailer 1 from new movement on Vimeo.

Q5: We understand that the work is site specific. However it is only running for under 2 weeks. Are there any plans for re-runs or tour?

A: We are a young organisation, so we are taking it step by step. We have nearly tripled the amount of performances in comparison to last year's production. We want to continue to offer an intimate, unique viewing experience for the audiences, which means we need to limit the amount of tickets sold per show. We have nearly 30-strong team of artists and crew working each night, which makes for a rather expensive production. In addition, our members have ongoing commitments to their individual projects and employers, such as Rambert which need to be accounted for. 

We are travelling to Denmark this August to re-create Casting Traces at Carlsberg's former brewery site, and we hope to be able to perform NEST in the future as well.

The building is due for re-developemnt, so we will have to see what happens - it is a matter of finding the right space and enough money to bring everyone together again!

*****

The show would be running from 15-24 July only, for details please check this link - http://www.newmovement.org.uk/nest/index.html

Painter Ed Gray is the ambassador of Float Art, an innovative and high-profile art exhibition on the Dixie Queen paddleboat, moored by Tower Bridge. There is also a corresponding art award for emerging artists (deadline for entries is June 2013). The event would be part of this year's Thames Festival. We have interviewed him to learn more about the event and his connection with the River.

Q1: When were you approached for the opportunity to be Float Art's ambassador?
 
EG: My involvement came through Chris Livett, Director of Thames luxury Charters who own the venue. His enthusiasm for my work led to my show on the Dixie Queen 'Ebb and Flow' last November. The idea of Float Art came from that exhibition GX Gallery and I created for Chris on board the Dixie Queen. There was a real buzz about that show which saw me giving talks about my work to over 750 visitors over the course of the weekend that it lasted.  This event was picked up on by the Adrian Evans of the Thames Festival who loved the idea of using a boat as a floating art space. Davide Mengoli, from GX Gallery had wanted to create an event to showcase the work of graduate artists as extension of the in-house graduate shows they've been holding at GX for some time. Once Chris said we could use the boat again this all seemed like the perfect opportunity. I agreed to help with Floatart because I live in the area and I saw what possibilities are there for the space at my own show. Most importantly I know how hard it is to pick up on your own when you leave art college. Butler's Wharf has had a long connection with artists going back to the late 1980's when they  had their studios in the old disused wharehouses. It's amazing how much the area has changed. Hard to believe it's the same city really.

Londoner Nathaniel Rackowe was showing in this simple space on Hay Hill (off Dover Street). The gallery walls are plain white and the floor are laid with zig-zag wooden tiles. It feels like an unoccupied studio/loft space.

by Vanessa Champion

Ivan Seal in conversation at the Contemporary Art Society

The room is a bright ash white and Ivan Seal’s paintings seem to bounce off of the walls and straight towards you, inviting you in, drawing you in. Vibrancy of colour, shape and form, they dazzle you with arousing fascination. Moving closer to the paintings, you can see the sculptural application of paint, applied he said “with whatever is in the studio”, including cardboard. The energy and creative passion that’s inherent in each of his works reveals the playful elements of his methods of composition.

He doesn’t paint objects, he doesn’t paint from photographs, he paints from memories and explores the “thingyness of things”. Moments, a connection, a fleeting vision, a passing of time, a “taste”; memories of these things then play out in his mind as he paints. He is driven by what he is thinking in his own space, in that very personal space that is the artist’s studio; as he paints and creates it’s a little like a form of “escapism”. He is fascinated how memory is like a form of architecture, with doors and windows opening, more and more, leading to more and more rooms. Life he says is like art, things “mushroom” more things growing off other things. It’s reflected in his paintings, layer upon layer. Like language, his painting series and production is like an “endless alphabet, a sentence which has no full stop.”

I was particularly taken by his comment that “making art is totally different to viewing art”, something happens when it leaves the studio. The art itself becomes a language. The paintings are there to let the viewer see, hear and interpret what they want to see, to have the internal dialogue, the “fight” he called it.

Each painting is given a title, which as you read them, the words seem at times Latin names for flowers, or philosophical terminology, then the more you look, they become nonsensical, whimsical even, and yet familiar: cylamwosomboot  or  helianphorachinantensis. Must be a nightmare for the curator and proofreader of the catalogue! He generates these new words with a computer programme, thus the paintings and words form a new language platform, a unique method of communication, between you and the painting.

Ivan Seal “ors devurth at seven (swingerbuffetbit)”

The paintings are currently on view at Central, the Contemporary Art Society’s gallery space in London from 24 April until 29 May 2013. The exhibition of paintings is accompanied by some kitsch porcelain ornaments and other small curios from his own collection in low hip high display cases, further highlighting his notion of form and collection over perfection or historical importance.

The talk by the artist was held to celebrate two of his artworks gifted by the Contemporary Art Society to the Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery; the works being “Plemploted fowidead” and the accompanying drawing “ors devurth at seven”.

Our first ever London Art/Brunch collaboration with the Breakfast Boys London was held a couple weeks ago. Organised in less than a month, it was a bit rush but we took the challenge & made it.

Our wonderful breakfast was hold in the private dining room of the Riding House Cafe.

The @Breakfast_Boys and our guests Creative Consultant @matthewzorpas from thegentlemanblogger.com & Co-founder @katsi111 of exclam.fi 

Mark's show is a display of some pieces in his recent city-wide installation with Art on the Underground in an unprecedented scale. It features a labyrinth-like print mounted on the wall of every underground station. This is an exhibition which is truly London and hence the reason we picked it for our debut art brunch.

Video by Jared Schiller - more about the making of this film here

Visit our facebook page album for more images of the day.

We thank every guest joining us for the day and hope they all had a good time. For those who can't make it to our art brunch, don't worry - we would organise the next one very soon! Keep an eye on our twitter and follow both @londonart & @breakfast_boys to make sure you could join next time!

by Tom Rowbotham

The Other Art Fair will open in a week's time (25-28.04.2013), with 'buying direct from artists' as its USP. Jester Jacques gallery is teaming up with the fair's media sponsor FAD to showcase several emerging artists in their stand. We had an interview with co-owner of Jester Jacques, Karen Shidlo to tallk about their participation.

Q: Is there a recurring theme throughout this presentation, 'Electric Moon Candy', in the fair?

A: Each of the artists I chose brings something unique to the show yet they tie together quite nicely. The work of Steven Quinn and Super Future Kid go hand in hand through the artists’ approach and process; both use the cut and paste technique, whether in painting or collage. Both are outwardly playful, with Quinn’s series exploring apocalyptic Americana scenes, whilst SFK’s characters can be a bit haunting and sinister. In a similar vein, the work of Nicholas Goodden offers layered narratives through his tightly composed architectural shots or captures the faint silhouettes of strangers in timeless images of London.

Chris Daniels and Rob Bellman both attended Royal Academy / Royal College of Art and they both lean towards abstraction. Bellman is multidisciplinary, highly adept at installation work, constructing sculptures, and creating drawings, whilst Daniels uses acrylic and oil paints to create an impeccable finish on the surfaces of the paintings allowing the viewer to engage in the strong tensions between figure and ground. The drawings and paintings of these two artists work very strongly together and tackle the fundamentals of colour and form.

Hydapes and Issus by Chris Daniels

Q: What motivated you to choose these artists?

A: I met Steven Quinn and Rob Bellman last year and loved their work from the start; I was simply waiting for the opportunity to show their art. I wanted to exhibit work that worked welltogether, yet showed a variety of genres and techniques; setting out to be bold, whimsical and engaging, I chose Daniels and Super Future Kid, as both are incredibly strong painters with their own compelling style. Nicholas Goodden is an artist I came across online whose photography really captured my attention, and I felt his voice would be cohesive with the other artists work.

Q: Do you have any favourite pieces from the exhibition?

A: I like every piece for a different reason, but I feel that ‘Smoking on the Moon’ by Steven Quinn is particularly poignant and really represents his current body of work. Having spent time with him, I know his process is painstaking and that allows me to appreciate it on another level!

I also love both paintings by Chris Daniels as I have a degree in painting and his work is exactly the kind of painting I am passionate about; I love Ellsworth Kelly and Ab Ex in general, so I really engage with his work.

Scuta II by Chris Daniels

Q: Have you always been interested in curating?

A: Even though I studied painting in college, I interned for most of my 4 years at Pratt Institute and I think that is where my passion for curating started. I worked at a few different galleries, an art agency and an art council on Long Island, and I began to feel that even though I loved painting, my heart was really more in the business side of art.

Curating is only one aspect of my job, and I love it, but I relish every part of what I do, from meeting artists and doing studio visits, to dealing with clients and organizing pop ups, exhibitions and art fairs.

Q: Do you have any advice for young curators?

A: I would say to go to as many museums and galleries as you can and try to make connections. Make mental – or physical, if necessary – notes on similarities you see. Also, when you go to an exhibition that is either particularly exciting for you or has received wonderful press, make sure you ask yourself as you go around what makes it stand out and cohesive? What themes are there, how is the work hung, etc.?

As far as work goes, I know a lot of people are against internships, but I did them for 4 years – sometimes for no pay, sometimes for little pay – and what I learned from them was incredible! Something that they can’t teach you in school, you get real life experience and, if you are lucky, a good connection for the future. Build up as many experiences for your CV and trust me, people will give you a chance, especially if you show that you are hard working.

Legio II by Chris Daniels

Q: What is the most memorable exhibition you have seen?

A: When I was studying in New York City, I went to The New Museum desperate to see an exhibition of Mary Heilmann. When I walked in, I saw the shipping crates stacked against a far wall in a closed off area through the large glass window. It was then that it struck me that they were taking the exhibition down; it was the last day of the show! All of a sudden, a beautiful painting caught my eye. It was ‘Surfing on Acid’ byHeilmann and it was breath taking. I stared at it for a good long time and even though I couldn’t see all the works, seeing that one was enough to satiate me. I was lucky enough to see her solo show at Hauser & Wirth last year here in London.That was wonderful!

Q: What do you have in-store for the near future?

A: After The Other Art Fair, I want to get back to what Jester Jacques is all about – working closely with emerging artists! We will be working on getting more artwork for our online shop, an on-going project which is very slow and tedious, as everything is hand-picked. We meet all the artists, discuss their work and build our stock slowly.

We will also be working on putting together a book, maybe doing a pop up in Shoreditch, definitely another workshop and planning more future events for the long term/later in the year. Perhaps more art fairs! We are also working on a monthly, online curated image gallery, where we select the best submissions of art to our website and work with a guest curator to put it all together to create an online venue of interest, discussion and learning. Our first curator is Tabish Khan, Art Critic for Londonist.

Full photo set here