calendario eventi  :: 

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4/9/2003

Full english

Motinternational, London

Kiera Bennett, Louise Harris, Pat O'Connor, Nicola Ollis, Russell Oxley, Audrey Reynolds, Nicholas Symes, Vicky Wright

We awoke early; head pounding from the antics of the previous night, locating a watch we discover that breakfast was still being served. This was not the sort of day when a continental brought up to the room would satisfy. Spurred on by our desire we forced our self under the reviving waters of the on-suite power shower. Fuelled by water massage induced optimism, we bounded down the stairs and ensconced ourselves in the dining room. We knew what we wanted. Eggs, sausages, bacon, beans, tomato, black pudding, toast and endless tea. We wanted the lot, FULL ENGLISH.

MOT went in search of work that had elements of craft and tradition, work that looked like it could be the product of some outmoded cottage industry. We were drawn to painting, landscape and portraiture, ceramics, felt and driftwood. We wanted to rediscover the lost England, hidden away in studios, workshops and bedrooms. For the Full English to be complete all this had to be countered with a healthy dose of English cynicism and exquisitely wrapped in gift shop romanticism. Take a look at the menu and place your order.

Kiera Bennett's pedigree couldn't be more English; Ruskin followed by the Royal College. We discovered her work while nosing round the studios at Rockwell and encountered a beautifully intricate little collaged drawing of a pub garden. All seems well, until, on closer inspection you notice a noose hanging from a tree and an unwelcoming sense of dereliction.

Louise Harris has honed her discipline down to three subjects; sex, Blonde women and religion. Each subject is rendered in a specific medium. Religion is allotted felt and Harris uses this traditional craft to create landscapes from the New Testament. The felt we shall be showing at MOT is called City on the Hill.

Pat O'Connor lurks around in waiting rooms satisfying her craving for glossy magazines. From these out of date photo journal celeb fests she gleans images to paint. Bored models, cardboard couples and piped romanticism fill her beautiful paintings, which are painted on a myriad of grounds, from paper and panels to biscuit tin lids and cereal boxes. For Full English Pat will be painting an image directly onto the wall of MOT

Nicola Ollis paints garden landscapes directly from the pages of Argos catalogues. These are rendered with as much detail as can be extracted from the small photographs except that Ollis does not paint the product that is being advertised. The area left is replaced by an invented space, based on what Ollis imagines is there, further fictionalising the space that the original image aimed to project.

Russell Oxley continues his fascination with the colonial by making a painting of the moon landing. In Oxley?s rendition of this famous image from history he has replaced the Stars and Stripes with the Union Jack, questioning ownership and authorship by the most traditional means.

Audrey Reynolds produces ceramic sculptures of heaps of flowers, sometimes in vases and more often in strange piles. Although the individual flowers are intricate and delicate, the overall mass has the appearance of having been spewed or shat onto the rough and uneven plinths that Reynolds chooses to show them on. The ordered control of flower arrangement is disturbed by a primeval chaos. She has a residency at 1000000mph in January

Nicholas Symes will be making artificial driftwood, out of which he will make a traditional sculpture associated with driftwood, such as a boat. The fabrication of materials mirrors the stereotypical notion of craft over, or equalling art, as the epitome of Englishness.

Vicky Wright completes our menu with a painting of her boyfriend as a dog. Side stepping sentimentality with the skill of a ballroom dancer this painting shows what can still be achieved within the genre of portraiture. Imposing human characteristics upon animals has a long history in English literature and Wright employs the strategy well to produce a reserved yet emotionally charged image. Full? You better believe it.

Open Fri, Sat, Sun 12-5 or by appointment

Future Exhibitions at MOT
ROUND TABLE 17th October - 21st November
Emma Biggs/Matthew Collings, Matthew Higgs, Jon Thompson with texts by Jeremy Deller, Colin Lowe, Roddy Thomson, Mark Wallinger

MOT
Unit 54/5th floor Regents Studios
8 Andrews Road London E8 4QN
t +44 (0)7931 305 104

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