Infinite Beginnings
dal 28/3/2011 al 20/4/2011
Segnalato da
28/3/2011
Infinite Beginnings
Austin Desmond Fine Art, London
Tim Lewis, Julian Perry and Emma Stibbon each create work that explores changes of state and the passage of time. Time - as one of the work's dimensions (in Lewis's kinetic sculptures); as a subject in its own right (in the paintings of Perry); or as the unseen hand that shapes the landscape (in the graphic and printed works by Stibbon).
Metamorphosis and the experience of time are the subjects uniting the three contemporary artists in Austin /
Desmond’s major spring exhibition Infinite Beginnings.
Tim Lewis, Julian Perry and Emma Stibbon each create work that explores changes of state and the passage of time.
Time - as one of the work’s dimensions (in Tim Lewis’s kinetic sculptures); as a subject in its own right (in the
paintings of Julian Perry); or as the unseen hand that shapes the landscape (in the graphic and printed works by
Emma Stibbon). The exhibition will present a dialogue between three creative responses to the temporal.
The exhibition’s title is inspired by the Scottish Geologist James Hutton (1726-1797) who rejected the biblical flood as
the origin of all rocks, in favour of an on-going process of generation: Infinite Beginnings. In nature the passage of
time is often perceived of in terms of decay, however, the changes of state brought about over time can equally be
perceived of as a series of new beginnings.
Art can twist, examine, even reverse the normal experience of time. In the creative process, time becomes a
component to be manipulated and observed from many angles. A painting is the product of many hours of activity
yet becomes fixed in time at the moment of completion, whereas a piece of music or time based media only exists
within the time parameters specified by the artist. An awareness of art’s ability to address and play with concepts of
time unites the three artists across their different disciplines.
TIM LEWIS (b.1961)
Lewis’s kinetic sculptures raise questions about the boundaries between nature and fabrication by endowing objects
with properties that they do not naturally possess. Chairs walk, birds nest in shoes and man-animal-machine hybrids
are brought to life - leaving nature to the constructed and vice versa. Through this combining of mechanical objects
and sculpture, he is able to experiment within his own bespoke time frame, using his own doubts and perceptions of
the world as a guide.
JULIAN PERRY (b.1960)
Perry’s coastal erosion paintings combine multiple time periods into one image (much as some early Renaissance
paintings include narrative scenes before and after the main dramatic event). By this selective take on both
chronology and visual “reality” he highlights what extraordinary events are taking place in the landscape.
EMMA STIBBON (b.1962)
Landscape is a central preoccupation in Emma Stibbon's practice. Her work is focused on how our surroundings are
shaped by the forces of nature and the impact of human enterprise, and on how the apparently monumental can be
so fragile. Drawing is key to her work, whether that is using the autographic mark or mediated through print. Her
work reflects on the relationship between landscape and memory, often suggesting the elusiveness of the subject in
the material fabric of the work. [Emma Stibbon courtesy of upstairs berlin]
For further information and high resolution images please contact Evie Howard: e.howard@austindesmond.com
Image: Emma Stibbon, Abandoned Whaling Station, 2006
Woodcut on Japanese paper 117 x 238 cm
Image copyright Emma Stibbon
Opening Tuesday 29 March 6.30 – 8.30pm
AUSTIN / DESMOND FINE ART
Pied Bull Yard, 68-69 Great Russell St. London
Opening Times: Mon – Fri 10.30am – 5.30pm
Sat 11.00am – 2.30pm
free admisison