ARTISTS TALKING

# 73 [9 October 2009]

Marl Hole 3rd - 31st October 2009

at AirSpace Gallery

as part of British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke on Trent.

The concept of Marl Hole was to challenge the traditional ideas and methods that have been applied to clay, and demonstrate a fresh approach to the material whilst using very primitive techniques.

Neil Brownsword, Alexandra Engelfriet, Torbjørn Kvasbø, Johnny Magee and Pekka Paikkari joined forces to make this work possible.  The artists visited Etruria Marl located in Staffordshire to embark on both a physically and mentally challenging task, to manipulate the landscape in order to create interventions which demonstrated the history and relationship between the creator and the material.  Over a period of just five days, each artist was confronted with the material in its rawest state and had to decide in what way they would alter the landscape to create their piece of work.
The event was filmed by Johnny Magee which clearly shows the strength and determination of the five artists as well as the exhaustion they face along the way.  The sheer scale of the Etruria Marl is daunting enough, but despite that the artists successfully created their work whilst enduring the elements and having limited resources.

Johnny Magee manages to capture the emotions and thoughts that the artists experience throughout his filming and this is achieved by focusing on the struggles and exertion that takes place.  If the film were to solely focus on the finished pieces, then the purpose of the project would have been lost.  It is only when you see the individuals using parts of their bodies to manipulate the clay and the sheer force needed to do it, that you start to appreciate the work on the level that it is intended.  The exhaustion felt by the artists is sympathetic to the past workers of the pottery industry by both demonstrating the back breaking work that they would undertake daily and scale of the industry at the time.  The fact the Etruria Marl exists from the now extinct pottery industry and that it looked so desolate and empty despite its vastness before the artists arrived; symbolises with the death of the industry and the large hole it has left within the area and its community.

continued...

# 72 [9 October 2009]

A Brave New World

AirSpace Gallery

September 2009

It seems that barely seconds have passed since that time when the world was full of boundless possibilities. A small muddy patch in the back garden might have been the site of a pitched battle between a legion of Lego men and incongruous plastic dinosaurs, or perhaps the space around the bed was a shark infested sea, you are the captain navigating between the perilous jagged wardrobe or the threatening bite of the cracken (usually an older family member in a bizarely patterned Christmas sweater).

Before the rot of tv and national insurance contributions sets in the world is your oyster and a thing of your own creation.

Talk to an average person on the street and ask them to describe what is meant by ‘abstract’ or ‘surreal’ and you might possibly be there for infinity. Now if you were to approach a former pupil of either Forest Park Primary school or Clarice Cliff Primary School at some time in the future and the answer would be there instantly.
For twelve days in each school over a period of around three months, David Bethell, Eleanor Babb and myself have been exploring 'Strange New Worlds' through a series of workshops with 7-8 year olds in year 3 classes. The children were put straight in at the deep end with the exploration of surreal and abstract concepts, in order for them to create an environment both distant but somehow familiar to us as viewers. The days of experimentation would culminate in an exhibition of artworks at AirSpace Gallery. Lasting just over a week the exhibition showed a combination of large-scale sculptures, experimental drawing and photography, and clay maquettes; each piece owing its existence to the creativity and imagination of a young mind.

Amongst the works were glimmers of recognisable memories from another time, distant maybe, but in reality not that far away. The power of art to develop a sense of wonderment was evident at the artists' first viewing of the final curated show. Not only were they seeing their own work in a new light but that of their compatriots from across the city. A spontaneous and almost unconscious critical debate occurred as similar and different themes emerged, and were either praised or derided.

Sometimes it seems as though the creativity of childhood is lost to the tedium of the everyday adult world of MOTs and risk assessments, and the constant drive to formalise what we do. However creating and viewing this work alongside those enquiring minds has shown me at least that that ideal state of mind is still just underneath the surface.

Andrew Branscombe

# 71 [13 August 2009]

Jin Han Lee – Beyond and Within

as part of Dialogue Box

AirSpace Gallery Window

18th – 31st August

An easy explanation of my current paintings is the awkward and strange relationship between layers created by using masking tape.  I create edged patterns, gradation, and big brushstrokes. I want to disorientate the viewer through the various techniques employed in my paintings, the dynamic created through use of spontaneous and  planned actions within each work reinforcing this state.  Tension and spontaneity are repeated between images and layers. 
By using “masking,” I am producing something that is not a picture in a picture.  My method is to paint over the masking tape then remove the tape so that the act of masking is an act of drawing.  The act of painting is not simply just placing colour onto the canvas but also the removal of the masking tape which cuts through the colour.

Using masking tape allows me the chance to focus on each image, as to show the image, I have to block the image.  There is a disjointed space within the image, between what is seen before and after the masking tape is removed, by cutting the tape I expose the core.

www.jinhanlee.com

# 70 [9 August 2009]

bernard charnley – the instability of spaces

as part of Dialogue Box-AirSpace window

5th – 14th August

The installation of paintings comment on the paradox of fragility but strength of  spaces, the ones we construct in our heads or those social and personal that we occupy, shape and exchange with everyday.

In location in the dialogue box, the floating random double suspension of the images in their box frames, and of the frames in the window space, opens a colourful conversation in the air. It is a playful exchange on its own tensions and contradictions that speaks also to the dynamics of our own desires and dreams.


www.bernardcharnley.co.uk

# 69 [9 August 2009]

Ecce Home Tesco

The show opened on the 26th June, introducing Stoke on Trent to Shaun Doyle and Mally Mallinson’s Devolution Theory. A theory that sees a Tesco dystopia where the human skeletal structure has devolved to cater for the new Tesco life, where the young are enrolled into the compulsory Tesco Youth and Tesco monuments are built to celebrate the chain.

A combination of strangely realistic skeleton figures and museum like artefacts create a history for our predicted future, the show is predominantly amusing, the children at the pre-view were seen to be pointing and laughing at the figures. Yet at the same time there are haunting undertones, could this actually happen? Or is it already happening? It was recently reported that the sale of forks was massively out numbering the sale of knives, could this be the beginning of our downfall, one hand shovels food while the other rests on the television remote. It could be that we are closer than we think to the fork shovelling seen in Doyle and Mallinson’s videos.

# 68 [15 June 2009]

Ecco Homo Tesco

27th June-25th July

In their latest work, 'Ecce Homo Tesco', Doyle and Mallinson present a range of horribly convincing and uncomfortably satirical dioramas, a conflation of contemporary concerns and debates. Dark yet humorous, modern props and scenarios are made to strange references loaded with pathos, mirroring society and our times: 'Behold the lazy, track-suited lager swilling man'.


Museum mounted skeletons and display cases of fake artifacts are installed in a celebration of regional museum displays and scientific hoaxes. Drawing on source material from bigfoot movie footage, fossil remains and commercial advertising, Doyle and Mallinson expand on ideas explored previously in 'Ecce Homo Erectus' recently shown at Venlo Stadhuis, NL.

# 67 [4 June 2009]

Aftermath - 21st-31st May 2009

Nicholson Institute, Leek

This May AirSpace was on tour, well okay it was only one venue and it was in Leek but it was a really great opportunity to see some of the work that the people behind the gallery are creating.

The private view on the Wednesday was a really great turn out, and there was a nice atmosphere filling the high ceilinged room that is the Nicholson Institute.

The artwork, although not curated as such, appeared to be taking the viewer on a journey through the exhibition. Throughout the week people were seen to be delicately walking around the space, avoiding the large amount of floor-based work, map in hand and scrutinising the work on show.
It was interesting to see the links between the practises of those involved with the gallery. There seemed to be an underlying theme of nature and the environment. Phil Rawle, Anna Francis, David Bethell, Andrew Brandscome and Brian Holdcroft all used imagery and objects linked to nature, from discarded branches to planted seeds their work seemed to be reflective of a world increasingly aware of it’s environment and our use of it. Other subjects were scattered throughout the show including explorations of memory by both Stuart Porter and Katie Shipley and Bernard Charnley’s referencing of the human condition.

For artists working together, but not as artists, I think it’s important for us to be able to explore each other’s work in this way.  I think the exhibition has served to be a much-needed pause for thought on the work that we are creating, allowing us to realign or reaffirm the direction we are heading in.

# 66 [1 June 2009]

Dialogue Box 09

Ben Chetter – Unified Monotony

AirSpace Gallery Window 4th – 18th June 2009

This year’s Dialogue Box series started with Laurence Payot’s new work ‘Back to the Future’ where Payot sought to challenge people's perceptions of their everyday surroundings, of what is considered commonplace in our current culture, and how this would be perceived in 10 or 20 years time.

The series continues this month with work from Ben Chetter; views from people during his adolescence had Chetter experience the negativity of homosexuality and to virtually treat it like a disease, here creating a negative stereotypical view of the effeminate.

The stereotype of effeminate qualities in homosexuality has intrigued Chetter to combine it within elements of symbolism. Incorporating the stag, the artist uses this as a predominant mediator between human and animal instinct.

He is the man of the forest, the epitome of masculinity.

# 65 [18 May 2009]

Aftermath 21st -31st May 2009

Nicholson Institute, Leek

AirSpace Gallery presents new works from artists Anna Francis, Andrew Branscombe, Bernard Charnley, Brian Holdcroft, David Bethell, Katie Shipley, Phil Rawle and Stuart Porter.

The exhibition explores a range of themes including urban regeneration, nature, and aspects of the human condition. The works are representative of the artist’s working at various stages of development; there is both explorative and resolved works on display. The exhibition therefore presents a developmental snapshot of contemporary art and artists living and working in Staffordshire.

Aftermath the show’s title suggests what is left over after an upheaval. The works presented here have come directly from or are influenced upheavals, social mental or physical, the work examines change and it’s results. The interim and explorative nature of some of the work also suggests the idea of a recent disturbance of the artist’s work, its processes and results.

# 64 [6 April 2009]

The opening for Trying to Cope with things that aren’t Human (Part 1) attracted the largest number of visitors to a private view that AirSpace has had. Over 150 people came to the gallery on Broad Street in Hanley and it was worth it. Curated by Ian Brown the show had travelled from the David Cunnigham Projects gallery in San Fransisco, but the Stoke show boasted a few new works by artists such as Alan Currall, Heather and Ivan Morrison and Mariele Neudecker, never seen before.

What was brilliant about the opening were the familiar faces mixed in with the new. Local artists are still supporting the gallery and some people travelled from as far as Norwich and Liverpool (that’s not including David Cunningham who travelled from San Fransisco).

It was wonderful to see the gallery bursting at the seams with lively chatter and appreciation. The exhibition continues until the 2nd May and there are also limited edition publications for sale. For more information please visit www.airspacegallery.org or www.thingsthatarenthuman.com .