calendario eventi  :: 

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5/10/2012

Three exhibitions

The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall

Fiona Rae:
Maybe you can live on the moon in the next century
6 October – 30 December 2012
Artist’s talk: Saturday 17 November, 2pm

Initiated by Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries.

The New Art Gallery Walsall is delighted to present an exhibition of 12 paintings by Fiona Rae from the last decade.

Over the last 25 years Fiona Rae has established herself as one of the leading painters of her generation with a distinctive body of work, full of restless energy, humour and complexity, which has set out to challenge and expand the modern conventions of painting.

This exhibition starts when Rae’s paintings had begun to reference a world keyed to the computer screen, echoing in painterly analogues many of the new visual conventions familiar to a post-Photoshop generation. Fonts, signs and symbols drawn from contemporary design and typography appeared, whilst more familiar abstract marks and spontaneous gestures worried the autonomy, legibility and function of these graphic shapes, debating a new synthesis of painterly languages. In 2004, when Rae visited Tokyo and reconnected with visual aspects of her peripatetic childhood in Asia, her lexicon further broadened to include small figures or cartoons whose status is left intriguingly ambiguous. Like Caspar David Friedrich’s human presences in an overwhelming landscape, they serve to point up the metaphysical and artificial dimensions of abstract painting, whilst also providing an empathetic point of identification for the viewer that invokes a more personal reading.

In using elements that might be considered girlish or otherwise unserious, Fiona Rae looks to re-examine their meaning and expressive possibilities from what could be seen as a feminist perspective. In more recent paintings, these ludicrous yet gnomic images might be thrust into passages of expressive brushwork, layered and dense, or caught in black calligraphic drawing inspired by Dürer’sApocalypse woodcuts, to produce dramatic and emotive compositions. Her recent titles often purport to be exclamations or statements, but like her paintings, they elude definitive explanation and can appear simultaneously dark and charming, anxious and insouciant.

A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition with an introduction by Sarah Brown, Curator of Exhibitions at Leeds Art Gallery, and an essay by Gilda Williams. It is available at the gallery shop at the special exhibition price of £12. Press copies are available.

Biography

Born in 1963 in Hong Kong, Rae also lived in Australia and Indonesia before coming to live in England in the early 1970s. She completed a Foundation Course at Croydon College of Art from 1983–1984, and a BA Hons in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College from 1984–1987.

Rae first came to public attention when she took part in Freeze, the group show in London’s Docklands organised by Damien Hirst in 1988, which launched a generation of artists who became known as Young British Artists. Rae quickly gained international acclaim: she participated in the 1990 Venice Biennale and was shortlisted at the age of 27 for Tate’s Turner Prize in 1991. Her major solo exhibitions have included:Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland; ICA, London; Carréd’Art – Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, France.

She has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in museums and galleries both in the UK and abroad, including the Serpentine Gallery, London; Hayward Gallery, London; MuseoNacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Tate Liverpool; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany; Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai; Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; Kunstmuseum Stuttgart; Tate Britain, London.

Her work is included in prestigious museum collections including: Tate Collection, London; AstrupFearnley Museum, Oslo; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK; Carréd’Art – Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, France; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Essl Museum, Austria; Fonds National d’ArtContemporain (FNAC), Paris; FRAC d’Ile de France, France; FRAC d’Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France; Hamburger Bahnhof, Marx Collection, Berlin; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; MuséeDépartementald’art contemporainde Rochechouart, France; Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen; Southampton City Art Gallery, UK; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Warwick University Art Collection, UK.

Rae became a Royal Academician in 2002, and served as a Tate Artist Trustee from 2005–2009. At the end of 2011 she became the first ever female Professor of Painting for the Royal Academy Schools, London, and she is currently the recipient of the Tate Members’ Artist Commission for 2011–2013.

Fiona Rae will also give an informal tour of her exhibition on Saturday 17 November at 2pm. Please reserve free places in advance by calling 01922 654400.

The New Art Gallery is run and maintained by Walsall Council and also receives significant financial support from Arts Council England.

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Jodie Carey
Solomon’s Knot
6 October – 30 December 2012

Jodie Carey’s practice has consistently focused on an exploration of time, memory and materiality, absence and loss, of time passing and memories fading. Ultimately, she is concerned with the fragility and vulnerability of human life.

The starting point for her new work, commissioned especially for this exhibition at The New Art Gallery Walsall, is a simple bouquet of flowers. Flowers are given to others as a celebration of life, vitality and the wonder of nature. Ironically, once flowers are cut, they are already dying, creating a potent symbol of mortality which is deeply rooted in the history of art. Flowers are also frequently presented in honour of the dead.

Flowers have recurred as a motif throughout Jodie’s practice. Earlier works comprised elaborate flower arrangements, the flowers themselves created from newspaper, often soaked or dusted with blood, bone or ash. Whist the representation of the flowers themselves remained relatively literal, the vulnerability of the body and themes around mortality are addressed through the use of materials actually derived from the body.

This exhibition marks a significant moment in Jodie’s practice. Gradually, she has been paring away literal and representational elements of her work to arrive at a more abstract practice that still remains loaded with poignancy and elegance.

Untitled (Bouquet) indirectly provides the title for the show, Solomon’s Knot. This is an epic work that is suspended from the gallery ceiling and drapes across the floor. What appears initially to be quite a simple work belies a complex process of production. The thread used to hand-crochet this work has been coloured by the artist using dyes created from the individual flowers from a bouquet. Jodie has then engaged in the arduous process of crocheting by hand, a skill that she learned especially to create this work. Craft has always been a significant element within her work and she has often celebrated crafts that are under-valued and which have more traditionally been associated with women.

The choice of the stitch is also significant. Technically, Solomon’s Knot is a stitch that is close to lace-making but is quite loose. The construction of the work reveals flaws and imperfections across the surface, characteristic of work created by hand. Conceptually, the choice of stitch is also significant. Solomon’s Knot as a motif can be traced back as far as Roman mosaic work. It has been embraced by diverse cultures across time and has been applied across a wide range of crafts. It has been associated with wisdom and knowledge. As it has no end and no beginning, it is also commonly associated with immortality and eternity. It is also sometimes called The Lover’s Knot as it incorporates two entwined shapes.

This work is tall and elegant, monumental yet fragile. It is a work almost entirely created by the artist using natural materials and craft techniques. The original bouquet of flowers has been transformed into this beautiful and captivating work which resonates with references to time passing, mortality and commemoration.

A further sculptural installation consists of seven monumental plaster slabs, carefully arranged within the gallery. At first glance, they conjure up a range of associations from the gravestones of Victorian graveyards to ancient stone circles such as Stonehenge to the epic lead sculptural installations of American artist Richard Serra.

Like Untitled (Bouquet), the apparent simplicity of the work belies a long and gruelling process of creation. Each of the slabs has been hand-cast by the artist in plaster using a timber armature and layers of chicken wire wrapped in hessian. As with her frequent interest in dying or unfashionable crafts, Jodie enjoys the use of plaster, both as a natural material but one that is often regarded, in sculptural traditions, as the poor relation of materials such as marble or bronze. Plaster would be the material used for maquettes or for making facsimiles of classical sculptures. It has been regarded as a material associated with the transient rather than the permanent. Here it is elevated to the primary material for this installation.

Like Untitled (Bouquet), the slabs are both monumental and fragile. They are heavy and challenging to handle yet they retain a strong sense of vulnerability. The front of each slab has been meticulously hand-coloured by the artist using pencil crayon, a process which might take a full week for each slab. The colouring evokes the marking of time, whilst also emphasising the irregular and imperfect surfaces of the slabs, air bubbles and differences of texture gaining heightened visibility through the application of colour. Previously the artist had experimented with a range of techniques of colouring the surfaces, from the application of lichen to the damp surfaces to the use of hand-made dyes. She settled on the use of pencil crayon as a technique which would need to be applied by hand but also for its naivety as a material and its vulnerability. Part of the colour is absorbed into the porous surface of the plaster and it can easily be rubbed or brushed away.

The backs of the slabs are purposely exposed to reveal evidence of the materials used and the process of creation. In a consideration of how to anchor the works safely within the space, the artist has chosen to adopt a very practical solution with the use of filled hand-made hessian sand-bags which effectively become an integral part of the sculptural whole.

Elegy, a series of five framed black and white prints, shows wilting flowers in vases against a makeshift fabric backdrop. The original source material for these works was a series of rare glass plates sourced by the artist from ebay. The plates were used as part of photographic processes rarely used since the 1920s. Their appeal to the artist is easy to see. Not only do they represent a forgotten and now redundant skill, but the subject re-aligns us with the original bouquet of flowers and the theme of mortality so frequently considered throughout the history of art and literature. The plates have been scanned and then printed. One of the prints has a flash of blue where the colour plate had been stuck to blue-coloured card. The artist has made no attempt to correct this, cherishing the signs of history and time passing evoked through these works.

The contemplation of mortality, of memorials and of the passing of time, is frequently addressed throughout the history of art. Jodie Carey eloquently continues this tradition, utilising ideas, materials, processes and techniques which weave together elements of the contemporary and the traditional to create compelling and poignant works, full of elegance, gravity, commitment and poetry.

A fully illustrated 24pp publication will accompany the exhibition with an essay by Deborah Robinson. As the publication will include photographs of the installation, the publication will be available slightly later than the opening dates. Press can be sent copies on request.

Jodie Carey will give an informal tour of her exhibition on Saturday 24 November at 2pm. Free places can be booked in advance by calling 01922 654400.

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ARTIST ROOMS: Damien Hirst
6 October 2012 - 27 October 2013

The Exhibition Galleries on Floor 3 are currently closed due to installation work and will reopen on Saturday 6 October.

The New Art Gallery Walsall is gearing up to present a year-long exhibition of key works by acclaimed artist Damien Hirst, as part of ARTIST ROOMS On Tour.

This ground-breaking, new display will feature Damien’s sculptures, paintings and prints presented within the Garman Ryan Galleries. The display will be accompanied by a series of inspired satellite exhibitions, events and activities through the course of the year.

ARTIST ROOMS On Tour is an inspired partnership with the Art Fund - the fundraising charity for works of art, making the ARTIST ROOMS collection of international contemporary art available to galleries throughout the UK. ARTIST ROOMS is jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland and was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments.

Image: Damien Hirst, Away from the Flock, 1994. Glass, painted steel, silicone, acrylic, plastic, lamb and formaldehyde solution, 37.8 x 58.66 x 20.08 in (960 x 1490 x 510 mm). Edition 3 of 3 (plus 1 AP) Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2012

For press images or to arrange interviews with the artist, please contact Chris Wilkinson, Marketing and Development Assistant on 01922 654416 or email:
wilkinsonc@walsall.gov.uk

The New Art Gallery Walsall
Gallery Square - Walsall, West Midlands WS2 8LG
open from 10–5 on Tuesdays to Saturdays and from Sunday 30 September 12–4pm
We are closed to the public on Mondays and also 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

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