Marsden Woo Gallery: March 2012

27 March 2012

'IDEAL HOME' EXHIBITION MAKES FRAME MAGAZINE'S TOP 10

In a survey of top recent art exhibitions, the readers of FRAME magazine's news blog voted Marsden Woo Gallery at number three. The selected show was our November/December 2011 exhibition 'Ideal Home' by Carol McNicoll, Jacqueline Poncelet and Sam Scott with Maria Militsi's 'Fragments of Memory' in the Project Space. What impeccable taste they have! To view the full list follow this link;
http://www.frameweb.com/news/top-10-art-exhibitions

Ideal Home installation view © Philip Sayer 2011

Fragments of Memory installation view © Philip Sayer 2011

FRAME website

20 March 2012

NEXT EXHIBITIONS: EMMA WOFFENDEN AND JAMES ROBERT BROWN

Our next set of exhibitions will run from 22 March to 28 April 2012.

In our main gallery will be Emma Woffenden's 'Elephant Revenge' - a bold new series of darkly powerful mixed media sculptures that explore themes relating to the human condition and emotional experience.

James Robert Brown's 'Reverie I-V' series of mysteriously atmospheric photographs taken during a recent trip to Serbia will occupy the downstairs Project Space.

For more information please follow this link to visit our 'exhibitions' pages.

Emma Woffenden, 'Elephant Revenge I', bronze (2012)
photo © Philip Sayer

Image © James Robert Brown

16 March 2012

OWEN BULLETT: TEMPORARY INTERVENTION AT ART HOUSE FOUNDATION

Earlier this week...

Owen Bullett - sculptor and Marsden Woo associated artist - created this playful temporary intervention into the 6 Chairs exhibition currently taking place at Art House Foundation (London) until 22 March 2012.

Bullett, who received a fantastic response to his daring 2010 Project Space show Portal, will be showing a brand new body of work in a solo exhibition in our main gallery from 1 November 2012 until early 2013. Expect an exciting array of ambitious and dynamic sculpture that elegantly transcends its physical bounds, investigating the animation and occupation of space.

For more information about Owen Bullett's work, please follow this link to our associated artist pages
Link to Art House Foundation website www.arthousefoundation.org

Temporary intervention into 6 Chairs at Art House Foundation (March 2012)
photo © Owen Bullett

Owen Bullett: temporary intervention at Art House Foundation from Marsden Woo Gallery on Vimeo.

Owen Bullett, 'Imprint' (2012) as shown in our 2012 Mixed Display
photo © Philip Sayer

Owen Bullett, Portal, installation shot in our Project Space (May 2010)
photo © Philip Sayer

13 March 2012

LAST CHANCE TO SEE: ALISON BRITTON AND PATRICK MIFSUD

This is the final week of our current exhibitions. Both Alison Britton's 'Standing and Running' (main gallery) and Patrick Mifsud's 'On Different Levels' (project space) will end this Saturday 17 March. We have had a fantastic response to both of these shows, which have each received excellent press coverage and been highly praised by everyone who has made it along to see the work.

Some superb installation shots by Philip Sayer...

Alison Britton, 'Standing and Running' installation shot © Philip Sayer

Alison Britton, 'Influx' (2012) photo © Philip Sayer

Alison Britton, 'Standing and Running' installation shot © Philip Sayer

Patrick Mifsud, 'On Different Levels' installation shot © Philip Sayer

Patrick Mifsud, 'Connect/Dissect' detail (2012) photo © Philip Sayer

7 March 2012

SPOONFED, 'FOCUS ON: CLERKENWELL' ARTICLE

The website Spoonfed has just posted an article online, written by Tom Jeffreys, exploring the increasing number of contemporary art galleries in Clerkenwell over the last two years. Among others, the article cites Marsden Woo Gallery as a key venue of interest in an array of 'the capital's more interesting little spaces dotted about down various side streets off the Clerkenwell Road'.

'Clerkenwell is located well away from the pinstripes of Mayfair, but it also has a very different atmosphere to the nearby East End... This means that Clerkenwell's galleries have been largely allowed to develop at their own pace, without be ing lumped together as part of some kind of movement.'
Words © Tom Jeffreys

To view the full article please follow this link.

Clerkenwell art map © Spoonfed / Tom Jeffreys

PATRICK MIFSUD ON 'FRAME' MAGAZINE WEBSITE

Patrick Mifsud's brilliant immersive installation piece 'Connect / Dissect', formed from hundreds of hand-tied knots and lengths of thread and currently occupying our Project Space until Saturday 17th March, has been featured on the website of Dutch magazine Frame. To view the full article please follow this link.

1 March 2012

LATEST DISCUSSION INSTALLMENT: GLENN ADAMSON SPEAKS WITH ALISON BRITTON AND PATRICK MIFSUD

Our now long-running and highly successful series of artist discussions continued last night with Glenn Adamson in conversation with Alison Britton and Patrick Mifsud. In this installment Adamson probed each artist on the work in their current shows, this time with apparent emphasis on the role of process - a uniting factor between what are otherwise two hugely different but equally accomplished bodies of work. Both discussions were revealing and fascinating, and the audience was fantastic! Thank you to everyone who came and took part in the conversation, and for those that couldn't make it, here is a short summary:

Alison Britton explained that for a long time she has avoided talking about 'process', mostly as an effort to move away from the 'obsession' with it in the studio pottery of the 1960s and 70s. 'Standing and Running', however, marks a significant change in the way in which her work is made. Along with a brief project in which she was asked to purchase and then write about a number of second hand items, this latest body of work was very much inspired by a recent trip to Japan. It was during this trip that Britton began to use red clay for the first time in a number of years. Subsequently her methods of adding surface also significantly shifted, with slips and glazes being poured on to her vessels, rather than "painted", using a special spoon (also a gift from Japan).

Adamson and Britton in animated discussion

This pouring method then became very important on a conceptual level too. As a writer, curator and artist Britton is greatly interested in words, but is reluctant to give her work 'overly long and poetic' titles - instead she prefers to hint at 'thinly veiled' ideas. Surrounding this show is the notion of water - which can both 'stand' and 'run' - and links to not only her decorative methods, but also to the vessel as a container for liquid (the pieces have titles such as 'Weir', 'Spurt', 'Outflow' and 'Runnell'). Glenn Adamson commented that the choice of words is also interesting on another level as they may be used to refer to the body - a person can both 'stand' and 'run' - and the vessel often carries metaphorical reference to the human body. This is a point which Britton agreed with, saying she has considered this for some time in her work. She has also used hand-building methods for her whole career, and Adamson pointed out that this involves the use of the human body more so than relying on the 'tool' of the wheel to create the work.

The decision to include Bryan Illsley's paintings in the show was also discussed and related to the mark-making on a number of Britton's vessels, with Illsley commenting that he was both 'surprised but very pleased' to be asked to show his work alongside Britton's. An audience member asked what does she think about when she makes the work, to which Britton replied that the making process is very calm and relaxing, it is at the stage of applying surface that things get more tense due to the risk involved, but this is what she enjoys.

There was a high turnout for the discussion

Fellow Marsden Woo artist Sara Radstone commented on her use of glaze, understanding how it can feel quite daring just to make one small change in one's practice, such as not applying glaze to the inside of the red clay pieces in this case (which would render the vessels water-proof). She also asked whether Britton had considered making pieces that weren't vessels at all, or if she could envisage the evolution of this work as heading in that direction? Britton was, however, most adamant that this would not be the case as she especially enjoys the fact that her pieces are vessels and can't see herself deviating from this approach in future bodies of work.

When asked by painter George Waud whether the red clay pieces (unglazed on the interior for aesthetic reasons) could actually hold water, Britton rather humorously suggested the careful concealment of a jam jar to hold water should someone wish to put flowers inside them, as the pieces were not water tight. 'So you don't mind if people actually put things in your pieces?' comes a comment from the floor. Britton responds; 'If somebody is generous enough to buy a piece of my work, then they can put whatever they want in it!'.

Adamson explains the enormous influence Britton's work has had on his own

personal understanding of ceramics and the applied arts

The discussion then moved downstairs into the Project Space:

Patrick Mifsud began by eloquently introducing himself and his work, explaining his aim of altering the architecture of the gallery to make viewers question their perception of space. He mentioned how previous examples of his work have done this in various ways, often in public spaces.

Mifsud introduces his work to the audience

Attention was drawn to the performative dimension of Mifsud's work, and he explained how he thinks of the whole piece as a performance, from the repetitive movements involved in the installation - tying hundreds of knots, moving with the thread around the gallery, and tying again - to the taking down of the work, as the threads are cut and float gently to the floor. Mifsud sees the general public as performers in his work, moving as they must around it in certain ways that his work controls. In particular his 'Geometric Form (Urban Series)' pieces encapsulate this, as they block off public walkways such as tunnels and bridges and must inevitably be destroyed in order for people to pass through. He was asked if he sees himself as a graffiti artist, which he explained is not the case as his work does not damage anything, but he often feels like he could get into trouble for what he does - so feels a sense of adrenalin as a graffiti artist might.

Adamson pointed out that the lighting was particularly theatrical, prompting Marsden Woo artist Carol McNicoll to ask Mifsud if he had an interest in theatre and whether he had thought about collaborating with dancers or performers? The answer to this was a resounding yes, and Mifsud explained this was something he has done before, and in fact studied theatre in Malta before moving to the UK.

The audience turn their attention to Mifsud's series of intervention works in public
spaces - represented photographically in the show

The subject of lighting also brought up the elegant transition between transparency and opacity apparent in Mifsud's main installation piece 'Connect/Dissect', and his choice of a vibrant red colour was discussed. He mentioned the way it is a form of colour study as well as a linear three dimensional drawing in space, constantly changing, and that the painstaking pen and ink line drawings, which are displayed as part of the show, also highlight this.

Comments Alison Britton; 'Do you have a helper, a co-conspirator?'