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Friday, 25 May 2012

>>Forward Thinking | London and Tour | 25th May 2012

http://forwardthinking-exhibition.blogspot.co.uk/

‘Forward Thinking’ - curated by Tim Ellis

Forward thinking brings together 16 contemporary positions by a cross-generational group of artists in response to the idea of the pioneer.

The ‘Pioneer’ conjures a romantic depiction of an individual venturing into unknown or unclaimed territory. Paving the way in adverse conditions; opening new areas of thought, research and development. The classic interpretation is consistently attached with hindsight, being given to the individual after their action has been deemed worthy or of importance. But for every success there are countless glorious failures, cast away and forgotten in the bowels of history.

Today the term ‘Pioneer’ can appear redundant, more akin to associations of colonial conquest and defunct avant-garde practices. However, its potency as a word and idea redeem its former meaning. It remains synonymous with forward thinking negating the past as a true reflection of progression and advancement. The ‘Pioneer’ continues to strive with a hopeful determination to lighten the dark corners of the earth and bring to light all its hidden wealth.

Exhibition Artists:

Barry Reigate

Benet Spencer

Blue Firth

Cedar Lewisohn

Gabriel Hartley

Jack Newling

Luey Graves

Matt Franks

Mark Pearson

Nick Goss

Paul Johnson

Patricia Ellis

Richard Kirwan

Robert Pratt

Stewart Cliff

Tim Ellis

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List Of Works

All sixteen art works are exhibited in eight museum quality display cabinets. Each curated with two works and numbered accordingly. A ninth cabinet contains two books, firstly ‘Pioneering’ by Frederic Shelford published in 1906 and secondly, ‘Correlated Courses' The Brand Ambassadors Handbook, published in 2012 by William Grant and Sons. Although separated by 106 years the books offer an insight into pioneering endeavors and the ways in which to achieve it. Together they provided the catalyst for the exhibition, necessitating its tour and neatly locating it in the environment of The Glenfiddich Distillery with its theme ‘The Spirit of the Pioneer’.

Cabinet 1

‘Pioneering’

Frederic Shelford

Published 1906

‘Correlated Courses’

In woodwork & Mechanical Drawing

The Brand Ambassador Handbook

Volume 1

Published 2012 William Grant & Sons

Cabinet 2

Luey Graves

‘Source’

2012

Oil on wooden panel

Jack Newling

‘Idleness and Industry’

2012

Acrylic on Plywood

Cabinet 3

Robert Pratt

‘Hajduk’

2012

Bottle Glass and Plaster

Patricia Ellis

‘Statua’

2012

Acrylic on Wood

Cabinet 4

Richard Kirwan

‘Maverick element’

2012

Acrylic on Canvas

Paul Johnson

‘Preliminary Drawing From The Future’

2012

Coloured pencil on religious leaflet

Cabinet 5

Tim Ellis

‘Nimrod’

Chrome, enamel, ceramic, polish

2012

Barry Reigate

'Untitled'(Mona Lisa)

2012

Acrylic on Postcard

Cabinet 6

Benet Spencer

‘Modern House III’

2012

Digital Inkjet print, pealed acrylic paint and chalk

Nick Goss

'Tristes Tropiques'

2012

Watercolour on paper

Cabinet 7

Gabriel Hartley

From left to right

‘Greece’

2010

Acrylic on Postcard

‘Toilets’

2011

Acrylic on Postcard

‘Sheep’

2010

Acrylic on Postcard

‘Craftsman’

2010

Acrylic on Postcard

Matt Franks

'The Classical: towards a New Laocoon'

2012

Indian Ink pen and Felt tip pen on paper

Cabinet 8

Cedar Lewisohn

‘George Grosz’

2012

Ink on paper

Mark Pearson

‘Ultra-Zine Map’

2012

Acrylic, collage and spraypaint on photocopy paper

Cabinet 9

Stewart Cliff

‘Lilt’

2012

Watercolour and pencil

Blue Firth

‘An Action in the right Direction?’

2012

Paper and Acrylic Plaque

25th May London One Night Event | The Island Queen | N1 8HD

Monday, 16 April 2012

Needle in a Cloud - Fold - London 14th April to 19th May 2012

Saturday 14th April 2012 - Saturday 19th May 2012
NEEDLE IN A CLOUD

Ian Brown, Simon Callery, Stewart Cliff,Gabriel Hartley, Nick Goss, Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen, Jamie Jenkinson, Alex Knell, Jack Newling, Robert Pratt, Tim Ellis, Dan Davis

Friday, 16 March 2012

Pop Molecule - London - 15th March - 28th April

Exhibited Works

Installation View: from left to right, 'For Allowing New Things To Breathe' 2012 and 'A Longing For The Conversation To Begin' 2012

Installation View: from left to right, 'A Longing For The Conversation To Begin' 2012 and 'For Those Continued Questions' 2012

'For Allowing New Things To Breathe' 2012

Monday, 27 February 2012

SECRET SOCIETIES - CAPC musee d'art contemporain - Bordeaux, France 10.11.2011 - 26.02.2012

Secret Societies - CAPC Bordeaux

Curator(s): Cristina Ricupero & Alexis Vaillant

Artist(s): Kenneth Anger, Art & Language, Dan Attoe, Abel Auer, Jean-Luc Blanc, Armin Boehm, Cris Brodahl, Steve Claydon, Aaron Curry, Enrico David, Brice Dellsperger, Kaye Donachie, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Tim Ellis, Matias Faldbakken, Gretchen Faust, Simone Gilges, Goldin+Senneby, Julian Göthe, Eva Grubinger, Uwe Henneken, Benedikt Hipp, Jenny Holzer, Karl Holmqvist, Jonathan Horowitz, Rashid Johnson, Edward Kay, Joachim Koester, Terence Koh, Donghee Koo, Bernd Krauss, Skafte Kuhn, Elad Lassry, Gabriel Lester, Goshka Macuga, Jill Magid, Duncan Marquiss, Fabian Marti, Alex Müller, David Noonan, Rupert Norfolk, Matthew Ronay, Markus Schinwald, Sean Snyder, Jim Shaw, Jennifer Tee, Suzanne Treister, Luca Vitone, Ulla von Brandenburg, Carl Michael von Hausswolff et Michael Esposito, Cerith Wyn Evans, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Lisa Yuskavage, Tobias Zielony

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Man has always been fascinated with secret societies and their clandestine rites,their covert knowledge, and exclusive circle of members. Secret Societies have existed almost as long as society itself. The character of secret societies ranges from harmless brotherhoods to powerful associations with anything but altruistic financial and political objectives. Particularly in times of crises, secret societies provide surrogate values for the prevailing political, social and technological systems of order.

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The exhibition “Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence” which was on display at the Schirn Kunsthalle from June 23 until September 25, 2011 and which will be shown at CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux from November 9, 2011 until February 26, 2012, deals with the general theme of secret societies through the prism of contemporary art in the current context of media super-exposure – from WikiLeaks to Credit Rating Agencies (CRA), just to quote two current examples. Artists have always been fascinated by the unknown and the occult. But unlike journalists who are mainly focused on investigating present-day news, artists work around the mechanisms of the secret and are better equipped to question the very limits of the ideology of transparency in our era of super-exposure.
The main goal of the exhibition is not to render visible what is invisible nor to uncover secret conspiracies but to highlight through a wide variety of works by contemporary artists, certain questions raised by the sudden and recent outbreak of visibility on the part of secret societies. It is through the paradox that secrets are only secrets if they are communicated, yet disappear as soon as they are out, that this representative selection of artworks relates to secret societies and to society at large.

Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence is organised by the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt in collaboration with the CAPC Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux.

Catalogue

Secret Societies. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence
With a preface by Max Hollein and Charlotte Laubard. Texts by Michael Bracewell, Ina Blom, Gary Lachman, Jan Verwoert and a dialogue between Cristina Ricupero and Alexis Vaillant. Design Sanghon Kim, Aline Girard et Juanma Gomèz. German, French and English edition. 256 pages, ca. 150 illustrations, Snoeck, Cologne 2011. 39,80 €

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-> Ground floor galleries and Ferrère gallery, second floor
-> Disabled access
-> Price: 5 €. 2,50 €, Reduced tariff
-> Partner(s): Groupe Galeries Lafayette

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List of works Exhibited

Font
2010
Ceramic, copper, wood, fabric, wire, wood, acrylic, wood stain and metal fixings
122cm 31cm x 31cm

Allegorical Reflections Part I
2010
Wood, vinyl, enamel and wood stain
88.5cm x 60.5cm x 3.2cm

Phantasmagoria
2011
Enamel, etched primer, spray paint, wood, glass and metal fixings
58cm x 42cm

External Compass
2010
Burn wood, varnish, metal fixing
32.5cm x 42.5cm x 2.5cm

Allegorical Reflections Part II
2010
Wood, vinyl, enamel and wood stain
88.5cm x 60.5cm x 3.2cm

Saturday, 12 November 2011

THE THING IS THE THING - ASC GALLERY - LONDON

5 November – 17 December 2011

Preview Friday 4 November 6-9pm

Monday to Saturday 1.30 – 5.00pm

SLAM LAST FRIDAYS / Artist’s Talk: Friday 25 November 6 - 8pm

www.southlondonartmap.com

The Thing is the Thing

This exhibition brings together artists whose work reflects an idiosyncratic response to science and technology. Integral to the work are archetypal elements such as the formalist principles of modernism reflected in colour, geometry and pattern, and re-examined in the context of science, technology or architecture. Alongside are iconographic images of fictitious modernist structures, as well as culturally mediated and personal reinterpretations of images and objects from both science and science fiction.

Taking Frank Stella’s famous epigram ‘what you see is what you see’ as a starting point, the title references endgame strategies. Steeped in the zeitgeist of 1960s minimalism, Stella’s statement can be seen as reflecting the final throws of the prevailing ism-centric and linear history of modern art. In stark contrast, John Carpenter’s 1981 classic The Thing takes some of the paranoia more commonly associated with 50s B movies and relocates it to the edge of the world in an Antarctic research laboratory. The carnage that ensues is spectacular, stretching science fiction towards an apocalyptic gore-fest of special effects and obliterations – an endgame that may be less cerebral but is no less memorable.

The Works

The collection of objects allude to the existence of a once active social group or order. Planetary constellations, acicular patterns and archaic transmitters hark to an age of discovery. The worn and aged surfaces suggest a utility, proposing an involvement in a symbolic act or experiment. Although humble in appearance the works strive to make sense of their environment. Their titles appear to offer explanations to enlighten but their capacity to do so has diminished. The objects, now redundant, become symbolic totems for a quest to make sense of one’s existence.