Means without ends
dal 19/1/2012 al 17/2/2012
Segnalato da
19/1/2012
Means without ends
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery (new space), London
The exhibition shows the work of Mark Francis, Ian Davenport, DJ Simpson and Daniel Sturgis. Known for the seductive surfaces and iconographic qualities of their abstract paintings, each of these painters makes work that rethinks the relationship between narrative and abstraction.
Artists: Ian Davenport, Mark Francis, DJ Simpson, Daniel Sturgis
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery brings together the work of four important abstract painters: Mark Francis, Ian
Davenport, DJ Simpson and Daniel Sturgis. Known for the seductive surfaces and iconographic qualities of their
abstract paintings, each of these painters makes work that rethinks the relationship between narrative and
abstraction.
This exhibition will show new works by all four artists. Re-evaluating the unique illusory qualities of painting,
Davenport, Francis, Simpson and Sturgis move beyond the tautologies and modernist tradition of process-based
work. Their paintings share an uncanny relationship with the realms of technology and design, allowing for new,
non-instrumental narratives of form and space.
Continuing his series of ‘puddle paintings’, Davenport uses a syringe to pour acrylic paint down stainless steel and
aluminium panels. Exploring the multiple possibilities of diverse colour sequences, Davenport invites the viewer to
read the score for the painting in conjunction with the performance involved in pouring each piece. Recent solo
exhibitions include Dundee Contemporary; Tate Liverpool; Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York; Hakgojae Gallery,
Seoul; and Waddington Custot, London. His work is represented in major collections including The British Council;
Daimler Chrysler Collection, Stuttgart; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Banque Paribas; Tate, London; and
Weltkunst Collection, Zurich.
Strongly influenced by scientific imagery, from astronomy to medicine, Mark Francis uses microscopism as a
means through which to investigate ideas about abstraction, and vice versa. He has recently had solo exhibitions
at Dublin City Gallery; Mary Boone Gallery, New York; Maureen Paley, London; the Brooklyn Academy, New York;
and a major retrospective at the Milton Keynes Gallery in 2000. He was also part of ‘Sensation’ at Royal Academy,
London and the Brooklyn Museum, New York. He is represented in collections including the Irish Museum of
Modern Art; Tate Gallery; Victoria and Albert Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, Miami, and the Metropolitan
Museum, New York.
DJ Simpson has developed a unique approach to abstraction, using a subtractive process of drawing by ‘routing’
into manufactured sheet materials. In a new series of metal works Simpson continues the reverse figure and
ground principle. Combining an industrial, powder-coating technique with the hand-folding of thin aluminium
sheets, the work deals with frictions in the relationship between gesture and solid material. Recent exhibitions
include Platform A, Middlesbrough; Eastside Projects, Birmingham; Kunstverein Kohlenhof, Nürnberg; Bloomberg
Space, London; Sies+ Höke, Düsseldorf; Helga de Alvear Gallery, Madrid; Centre de Cultura de Palma, Palma de
Mallorca; and mima, Middlesbrough.
Daniel Sturgis’ paintings employ repeated motifs that give the illusion of a kind of order. Sequences of
pre-designed shapes and colours appear to hover on the surface, shifting between optical and representational
configurations. Sturgis selected the work for The Indiscipline of Painting: International abstraction from the 1960s
to now, Tate St Ives and Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre and is also part of the exhibition. Other exhibitions
include Galerie Hollenbach, Stuttgart; Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas; Camden Arts Centre, Kettle’s Yard,
Cambridge, and Jerwood Space, London. He was a prizewinner of the John Moores Prize, Walker Art Gallery,
Liverpool in 2010. His work is represented in major collections including the Government Art Collection, London;
University of Warwick; Progressive Art Collection, Ohio; Daimler Art Collection, Berlin; and Saatchi Collection,
London.
Upcoming:
Rosa Loy, Tautropfen, 23 February – 15 March 2012.
Sweethearts with artist couples including Gary Hume/Georgie Hopton, Dan Graham/Mieko Meguro, Rem
Koolhaas/Madelon Vriesendorp and Richard Wentworth/Jane Wentworth, 21 March - 21 April 2012.
Opening 20 january
Pippy Houldsworth Gallery
6 Heddon Street +44 London
Opening Hours Monday-Friday 10-6, Sat 10-4.
Admission free