London Art Fair 2012

I’m going to be showing with Rise Art in the Art Projects section (stand P29) of the London Art Fair. My 2009 painting Fred will feature alongside a selection of original works and prints by Avigail Talmor, Ting-Ting Cheng, Chris Shaw Hughes and Edd Pearman.

The Art Projects section features many other project spaces and galleries include Edel Assanti (who hosted Superunknown in 2010) and Hannah Barry while Limoncello and Serpentine will both be showing a selection of their print editions.

The fair runs from 18th – 22nd January at The Business Design Centre, Islington.

Fred 122 x 121 cm Oil on Canvas 2009

Londonist Article

The Londonist have written a small article on my work as part of their London artists series, which looks at artists who take the city as inspiration. You can see the article here

Back to the studio

After a self imposed studio exile since leaving the Florence Trust in the summer I was delighted to collect the keys for my new studio over the weekend. In that time I’ve viewed, written, read, installed and even brought art, everything but make it. The break was much needed at first, after an intense year in the studio I wanted time away and also needed to get my head down and earn some money. But the last couple of months have really made me aware of what I’ve been missing. The times when I wasn’t working, when I would have usually been in the studio felt wasted and with December being notoriously quiet work wise I jumped at the chance to get going again.

In my blog entry summarizing my year at the Florence Trust I mentioned plans for a shared studio with a couple of fellow FT artists. Those plans are still very much in the works so I see the current studio as a stop gap for a couple of months until we get the green light to move in. There will be much more information on this in the new year but in the meantime it feels great to finally have a space where I can go and try things out. I spent Saturday afternoon moving a few bits of equipment over and messed around with some block prints I made at home during my exile. At the time they didn’t feel as though they were going in the right direction, but having a space to view them in and work into them was perhaps all I needed?

With a work in a couple of exhibitions at the moment and a few shows lined up for early 2012 it feels like good timing to get making again. Watch this space..

December – Upcoming exhibitions

I have work in a couple of exhibitions opening in the next week. If you’re in the area make sure you take a look.

Update 22/12 – I’m afraid that the Urban Curations exhibition had to close early but you can still see my work at Charlie Dutton until 21st January.

Exploring Regional Spaces – Spike Island, Bristol

This is the extended version of an article originally published on Rise Art.

Last week saw the opening of Firstsite in Colchester which got me thinking about some of the spaces I’ve discovered on my travels.

I love going to regional galleries. Whenever I leave London to meet friends or family I always check to see what new spaces I can take in whilst there. Most regions now have their own publically funded gallery; many of the newer spaces with striking architectural statements – look at the newly opened Hepworth, Yorkshire and Turner Contemporary, Kent. Both designed by David Chipperfield Architects and both hoped to be the catalyst of regeneration of industrial waterside sites.

An area that has seen much regeneration over the last couple of decades is Bristol’s harbour-side, home to the Arnolfini which has seen its surroundings dramatically landscaped and now finds itself at the centre of busy vibrant city centre. I visited at the end of July, on the weekend of the Harbour Festival – celebrating the city’s maritime past and impressive new surroundings. Hundreds of thousands visited and my plan was to brave the crowds and catch some shows. Anyone who knows this area of Bristol will know that the Arnolfini is right amongst all the festivities, so getting to the door took time but once in, it was empty.

The Arnolfini has been on my radar since a visit in a 2000 when I caught a Liam Gillick exhibition. But on this occasion my destination was also the lesser known Spike Island, a mere mile along the riverbank. Spike Island is a funded space which I’ve known of more for its onsite artists studios. In the exhibition space was Structure & Materials, a show of 3 exciting female sculptors. A Haywood organized touring exhibition which had previously shown at The Hepworth’s neighbour, The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (its 3^rd and final stop is the The New Art Gallery, Walsall) in which all the work is drawn from the Art Council Collection.

Installation view of 'Structure & Material', with with works by Becky Beasley and Karla Black

The show features the work of flavour of the month & current Turner Prize nominee Karla Black along with Claire Barclay and Becky Beasley. The building, a former Tea packing factory couldn’t be further from the sleek contemporary spaces mentioned earlier but what it did was leave a massive impression.  Walking into the main gallery you are confronted with a huge triple height ceiling space leading through to a smaller space running parallel. The light was incredible and the works sat sparingly throughout.

Black had a couple of crumpled suspended pieces along with a large powder rectangle marked out on the floor. As always with her work, I had to search through the literature to take in all different everyday materials used (such as toothpaste, nail varnish, soap, bath bombs and polythene) which caused much bemusement to the family members who were dragged on this jaunt with me.

One wall had Beasley’s beautiful yet playful Walnut shelves hinged in various combinations, each replicating the length of her father’s arms, with hinges replacing joints in a variety of flexing positions. In a way reminiscent of Donald Judd’s Stacks which had limply twisted in the middle likes arms of a clock.

Installation view of 'Structure & Material', with with works by Becky Beasley and Claire Barclay

Beasley also presented a series of Silver Gelatin photographic prints of various mundane objects; the images were almost ghostly, reproduced in grey scale, seemingly with two prints joined in the middle by a crease exposed onto the surface of the print. The paper was held onto the backboard of the frame by eyelets piercing the corners of the prints, such a subtle detail but ultimately very pleasing in a show which is aptly summed up in the title, all about Surface and Material.

Barclay’s work consisted of a number of freestanding fabricated metal construction often involving draped fabrics which visually have an element of the everyday, but lack an approachable functionality.

Reading the show in terms of form and shape the works could be seen as crisp and overtly conceptual. But the inventive use of, and inexhaustible list of materials lifts the works and creates a strong connection between each of the artists. Whether its hard metal used by Barclay or soft crumbled paper of Black’s work, there is a fragility and elegance to the individual pieces above the sum of their parts.

Installation view of 'Structure & Material', with with works by Becky Beasley and Karla Black

Recent text – Colin Perry, July 2011

Andy Wicks’ paintings depict objects that might initially appear otherworldly or imagined, but are in fact real structures for mooring boats that can be seen – should you look – dotted along the River Thames. Existing some place in the no-man’s land between improvisation and ordinary functionality, they appear alternately too decrepit for use, or else modern, robust and sturdy. These mooring stations are called ‘dolphins’, an appellation that seems arbitrary given their utter lack of physical resemblance to the marine creature. Also seemingly arbitrary is their ad hoc composition and materiality: they can be built out of anything from pressure-treated pine to hardwood, reinforced concrete, or steel girders and tubes. Here, form follows function – but there is also a unity to their robust armature and tide-washed weathering, rusty iron, and agglutinated patches of algae fronds. Wicks’ paintings have a striking figure-ground contrast: the backgrounds are often rendered with a muddy-watery effect created by mixing resins, thinned oil paints and other mediums, which the artist agitates into eddies of bare canvas and coagulated paint – a process that echoes the flow of the river itself.

Colin Perry, 2011 Published in Florence Trust 2011 Catalogue

Colin is a freelance art writer based in London and writes for Art Monthly, Frieze, ArtReview, Modern Painters amongst others.

Andy Wicks, Irene, 25.5 x 20.5 cm, Oil on canvas, 2011

Florence Trust Exhibition – Installation shots

Anna M. R. Freeman

Collectif-fact

Catrin Morgan

Taisuke Makihara

Andy Wicks

Andy Wicks

Justin Eagle / Andy Wicks

Freya Pocklington

Freya Pocklington / Andy Wicks

Private view crowd

 

Private view crowd

A Year at The Florence Trust 2010 – 2011

Its been two weeks since the Florence Trust exhibition finished which signaled the end of my year long residency at St Saviour’s. Since then I’ve found myself in and around the studio quite a bit which while empty of my belongings, still had a hold over my time. After such a full on and immersive year it was sad to hand my keys back but as I move on a new set of artists arrive to start their own journeys.

Florence Trust w/polyethylene roofs over studios - Photo E. Torrell

I came to the Florence Trust as an artist looking to experience full time practice, to create time away from the constraints of paid work to see what I could achieve over the course of a year. The appeal of doing this at a residency such as the FT was the support network of fellow artists as well as the studio manager and director, something to ease me in to a new way of working, which isn’t usually available in large closed off studio spaces. On a personal note I’m happy with the shift i’ve seen my practice take in the last year and I believe this really is down to having consistency of thought from day after day at the studio, along with a heap of messing around with paint. But my overriding memories of the FT are the people and the space, being there really made me aware that I am part of lineage of artists who have been using the studios over the past 20 years. But is one dependent on the other? While the space is truly inspiring, beautiful and impossible to hide from, its the group of 11 very different artists coming together who made the experience. As a group consisting of multiple nationalities and artistic backgrounds it was our shared journey through the year that brought people together. Ongoing independent practice may consume the individual but the openness of the studios and communal areas created a schedule for dialogue and banter at lunches, tea breaks and social activities. The changes of seasons and the setting in of winter, while tough was a great catalyst for togetherness and a competitive survival instinct, demonstrated perfectly with varying approaches to polyethylene roof building. The end of winter and the start of spring brought new optimism to the studios with the gardens and wildlife becoming a bigger part of everyday life, our winter film club and pub quizzes turned to BBQ’s and beers.

Group shot (8 of 11) FT artists in Basel

The Basel trip while very near to the end exhibition came as a perfect remedy from possible studio blues and as we all knew each other so well by then was a fun filled trip away with friends. Once back we had two weeks of prepping the space for the exhibition, taking down the 3 central studios opened up the space and highlighted the architecture of the building, perhaps making a strong exhibition even more of a challenge. Thankfully in my opinion and those of many visitors it was a great success for which thanks should go to Paul Bayley (FT Director) for his problem solving and vision for how 11 different artist’s work could sit and read so well together. With a years worth of life on display I wanted to spend as much time at the show as possible invigilating. Talking with visitors about my fellow artists work opened up more readings of their work and created some interesting dialogue. I was happy with the response to my work, we had a huge opening night with far too many people to squeeze chats in with and delighted that a few of my works have now taken their place in a private collection in Italy.

Its been an absolute pleasure to have been able to spend time alongside each of my fellow artists, to watch their working practices up close and share their excitement over future projects and opportunities. If you want to keep an eye on the FT 2011 Artists you can find out more about their work and links to personal websites here.

Install shot of Florence Trust Summer Show

So whats next for me? Well firstly a bit of a break is in order. Whereas before this year it was a treat to get time in the studio, now it feels like one if I have a day away. With the realities of life once again at my door I will endeavor to seek a better live / (art) work balance to move forward with. The cost of London living makes everything feel like a compromise but if I take anything from this experience its just reinforced my desire to continue doing what i’m doing as much as I can. In the short term I’m going to be sans studio with my paintings and studio packed safely in storage, however I have got some ideas for a series of prints which I will be experimenting with in the meantime. There are also tentative plans on a building which maybe made into studios for myself and a few of the FT 2011 artists, it has the potential to be an amazing studio in another interesting period property, but until more discussions take place I’ll say no more.

I plan to get my curating/organizing head back on and push forward a few projects which have been on the back burner this year. One of those, a 3 person show with FT2011 artist Adam Watts and Peter Ainsworth is coming together nicely and we’re now seeking the right kind of space to exhibit in. I’d also love to do a solo show with the new work some day soon and imagine that the prints could fit nicely with the works on canvas. I’m excited to find time to take in more exhibitions in London having been out of the loop of late, I was blown away by Piccadilly Community Center Christoph Büchel’s immense installation at Hauser & Wirth last week and I still vividly remember his show at the Coppermill off Brick Lane in 2007. Through writing this and summing up it all suddenly feels very final, but far from it, the rigour and dialogue of the FT is something I will be looking to keep with me for the next stage.

Phoenix Magazine – Rise Art Interview

Andy Wicks with Fred (2009)

Photography: Loren Lazić-Duffy

What do you get if cross Facebook with an art gallery? The answer might well be Rise Art, a community based art platform that offers up and coming artists the chance to sell their work, and fans of art the opportunity to purchase original pieces at affordable prices from as little as £50.

Co-founder Scott Phillips, explains, “Rise Art helps anyone discover amazing work from a curated selection of talented artists. We work with top emerging artists, as chosen by our community and Board of Curators. Working directly with each artist to produce exclusive, original prints in strictly limited quantities’. Owning a piece of genuinely inspired and beautiful art has never been so easy or affordable with pieces starting at £50.”

Phillips continues “Whether you are a first time buyer or avid collector, Rise Art helps you discover and connect with a wide array of emerging artists in a fun, social platform.”

Words: Chloe Di Chiara (Phoenix Magazine, July 2011)

Andy Wicks, Alma Haser & Dai Roberts

Andy Wicks
Graduated from Middlesex University in 2006
What sort of person would buy your art?
I imagine someone maybe a young professional. Someone who engages with the city and urban landscapes but also wants something a bit more vivid and expressive.
What media do you use, what is the process?
I work in oil, but it’s very much a two-part process – my paintings consist of a background that dries for two weeks. Then I do a lot more desk-based painting, with much more detail, the top layer is a lot more flat.
What has Rise Art done for you?
They have been great. Making a print edition in collaboration with them is quite unique. Since then they have been quite good at backing me and promoting my exhibitions and just looking at different ways to connect with a market and the wider art world.
What have you been up to since leaving university?
I’ve been practicing and I haven’t really taken a break – I worked for an art framing company and met a lot of artists. I would recommend any kind of job to a student that can get your near to artists!
What’s next for you?
At the moment I am doing a year long residency at The Florence Trust [a studio space for selected artists set within a Grade 1 listed church], hopefully there will be opportunities from there.
What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?
Just look at lots of exhibitions, find out what you like and enjoy, and start to develop your ideas and try things. When you’re young it’s good to not be too defined at that stage.
What inspires you?
I guess my current work, it’s very urban and about the city in a very abstract way. As part of the process of researching I walk along the river Thames with my camera.

Read full article with interviews with the Dai Roberts, Alma Haser, Erik Bendix & Alastair T. Willey

New Paintings – July 2011

Here are a couple of new paintings completed near the end of my time at the Florence Trust. These both featured in the end of Residency summer show which finished on Monday (18th July). A few more new pieces can be found on my website along with these, click here to view them. I’ll be writing about the exhibition and thoughts on my time at The Florence Trust soon.

Andy Wicks, Katia, 122 x 100cm, Oil on canvas, 2011

Andy Wicks, Maria, 2 canvases at 89.5 x 56 cm, Oil on polyester, 2011