Wednesday 18 September 2013

Press Release

Press Release - Subjecting Objects

Work inspired by invoking an absent curator from the world of objects as a glimpse into an imaginary chaos of Things. This collaboration will be a catalyst for new thought and activity by participants: Conor Baum, Federica Landi, Francesca Marcaccio Hitzeman, Laura Smith and Poppy Whatmore - not only strengthening our collective spirit but also giving us a stronger grounding within the local community. This Art Licks event is an exciting opportunity for us to host a part show/part open studio event, providing a glimpse into an imaginary objects’ terrain. Visitors will be able to see the studios where our research takes place as well as attend workshops, performances and a symposium where the artists will discuss their work.

Open Studios:
Thursday 3rd October: 6-9pm
Friday 4th October: 11-6pm
Saturday 5th October: 11-6pm
Sunday 6th October: 11-6pm

Performance times:
3pm and 5pm Saturday 5th October:
3pm and 5pm Sunday 6th October:
3pm and 5pm

Artists’ talk and discussion:
Sunday 6th October: 12pm

Artists:

Baum researches the affect of technology upon the human experience in relationship to objects. The performance, Symbiomachanics, explores the symbiosis of the animate and imanimate with regard to humans and objects, pushing to the extreme a symbiosis of absolute dependence. A costumed, controlled device, in which both visual and audio sensory devices mediate through technological devices, questioning whether the balance of our human-object relationship is symbiotic or parasitic. 

Landi is fascinated by physical and cultural correspondences between the body and the space. Both the surface of our body and the textures of the objects that surround us are part of the same ‘extended flesh’, as Merleau-Ponty defines it, where all the elements intertwine and remind each other.

Marcaccio creates work that repeatedly returns to the themes of belonging and humans’ connections to their environment. Her work is often an exploration of how the human physical form interacts with a metaphorical, physical or psychological space. Francesca investigates the ways individuals use objects to negotiate their interior space, their nesting ground, in an increasingly geographically fractured existence.

Pager’s work examines the conflict of physical reality. The work pushes forward materiality against the prevalence of the virtual world. It is this reflection that heightens an extensive language of materiality in exploration. As the new dimension is dematerialized in state, the material world develops a more poignant presence.

Smith’s work positions itself near the edge of still life painting, where it approaches abstraction. She is interested in dissolving our familiarity with everyday objects. Currently, she is working with the idea that repeated motifs not only allow for a deeper investigation of the objects themselves but also a freedom in their depiction. By subverting and deconstructing the conventional uses of chosen objects

Whatmore transforms everyday objects into animated anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms. The methodological approach includes assemblage, a technique she employs to reconfigure conventional forms into surprising and playful arrangements, portraying the flaws and failures of the human condition.

Artists’ Biographies:

Both Smith and Whatmore graduated from The Slade School of Fine Art in 2012 (MFA). Pager studied a Postgraduate Diploma at Chelsea College of Art and Design (2010) and is completing a Goldsmiths MFA (2014). Landi and Marcaccio Hitzeman graduated from London College of Communication in 2012 (MA), Photography. Baum is a performer and theatre director and a recent graduate of Rose Brudford College of Theatre and Performance, (2013). Notable exhibitions include New Contempories 2012 (works chosen for Saatchi’s Public Collection), Creekside Open 2011 and Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011, 2012. Landi is currently represented by Millennium Images and Pager, has exhibited internationally at Gallerie 8 Stand during RAW, Rotterdam (2012). Marcaccio has exhibited extensively in Italy and London: for instance The Photographers Gallery, (2012): recent publications include Photo Vogue. Awards include the Clare Winsten Memorial Award, Arts and Humanities Research Council Award (2010-2012) and Columbia College Award, USA for Best Director (2011). 

Artists’ Details

  Conor Baum:  conorbaum@yahoo.co.uk

Federica Landi: www.federicalandi.com

Francesca Marcaccio: www.francescaemme.com

Sarah Pager: www.sarahpager.com

Laura Smith: www.laura-smith.com

Poppy Whatmore: www.poppywhatmore.co.uk

To view please visit: ACAVA Studios, Bermondsey 49 Grange Walk London SE1 3DY http://www.acava.org/studios/building/grange-walk-studios

No comments:

Post a Comment