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 3rd 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
Florence Trust Summer Show invite
I hope you can make it to the exhibition which is the culmination of a years intensive work, I will be showing a selection of new paintings that I’ve made over this period. There will also be a catalogue published documenting the work of each of the 11 residency artists, with a text from writer Colin Perry.
Florence Trust website / Click for Facebook invite
Here are a selection of my previous blog entries based around the residency and my experiences for those wanting some background.
April Spring at the Florence Trust
February Plastic Shanty Town
February Midway point of residency
September 2o10 New Studio – Florence Trust
Art Basel report
This is the extended version of ‘Making Sense of Art Basel’ originally published on Rise Art.
In keeping with Lorena’s article ‘Trading Places’, the question ‘Are art fairs the new blockbuster exhibitions?’ kept running through my head as I wrote my review of last week’s edition of Art Basel.
As part of The Florence Trust studio residency each year gets to go on a summer’s art trip, previous years have seen Glasgow and Liverpool biennale so when it was announced we would be going to Basel the excitement was clear to be seen. This would be my first visit to Switzerland and my first art fair outside of London. We flew on an early flight on Tuesday morning ready to catch the VIP preview. Walking through the airport to our departure gate should have been a clue of the world I was about to step into, with a YBA, a couple of famous gallerists, critics and numerous faces all etched into my consciousness who I was unable to place at such an ungodly hour. This budget airline flight contained the sort of art elite not usually found canned in to no thrills travel. As an artist, the idea of the art fair doesn’t excite me as it would the gallerists, collectors and maybe even the general public. But walking onto that flight was a real kick.
Art Basel Entrance
‘Art Basel’ is the main fair, while there are a handful of satellite fairs spread across the city as well as special events and late night openings at many of the museums. I must confess that I probably spent the least time at the main fair. But I did make sure I caught the UK galleries – Modern Art, White Cube, Sadie Coles etc and some of their European and American counterparts. But to be honest I didn’t have the stamina to compete with the excited moneymen and hangers on at the VIP preview.
Art Unlimited joins the main fair building at Messeplatz. It’s a large hanger style building and offers large curated site specific projects of individual works by big name artists. Each showing with their respective galleries but unlike the fair these aren’t manned sales booths. On the side of Unlimited was Art Statements which I would compare with the Frieze’s Frame, an area for solo presentation from younger galleries held within the main fair. I enjoyed Rodeo (Istanbul) who presented work by Emre Hüner who took Fordlandia (a city Henry Ford built in the amazon to extract rubber to produce tires) as inspiration for a varied set of sculpture and drawing of this failed utopian.
Rodeo Istanbul, Emre Hüner installation (Photo credit to Art Basel)
Other pieces of interest at Art Unlimited were Sarah Morris’ film Points on a Line which explored the Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House. As well as David Zink Yi’s Untitled (Architeuthis), a giant squid of legend recreated in ceramics and coated in copper and lead secreting an oily solution.
David Zink Yi’s Untitled (Architeuthis) - Art Unlimited
Outside of the main fairs there was plenty to see, with free shuttle buses linking you from one to another. Volta is set further out from the centre of town and had a far more relaxed feel to it which made for a more enjoyable experience. Although it wasn’t particularly busy so I’m not sure how the galleries felt? There were a number of British galleries on display here including Nettie Horn, Room Gallery, Vegas Gallery and Madder 139 who had some interesting G.L Brierley paintings. While former Vyner Street stalwart David Risley showed a good group of painters with his now Copenhagen based gallery.
Liste Poster Design
My favourite of the fairs was definitely Liste, which shows galleries no more than 5 years old and artists under 40 (much like our own Zoo art fair). It was set in a stunning former brewery Wartech just off the North bank of The Rhine and had a much cooler feel to it with challenging spaces to hang works. The show definitely had a more curated hang compared to Art Basel and gave off the impression of project spaces rather than Salon hung sales booths. There was a conceptual feel throughout with a leaning towards sculptures and installations; good examples of these were Limoncello, Hotel (both UK) and Liudvikas Buklys solo presentation with Tulips & Roses (Belgium).
Liste Art Fair
Other events I took in over the 4 days were Francis Alys’ Fabiola at The Schaulager, a reconfigured version of the show seen at The National Portrait last year, here mixed in to their permanent collection. The beautiful Foundation Beyeler, which can be found a 20 minute tram ride out of Basel, had an incredible show of Constantin Brancusi & Richard Serra in the Renzo Piano designed building (famous for Pompidou centre). Not forgetting the Swiss Art Prize which saw the Florence Trust’s very own Annelore Schneider take home an award as part of (collectif_fact) with collaborator Claude Piguet. Some of our group got to the Museum Tinguely which was heaped in praise for his kinetic sculptures and interactive displays, there was also a high profile exhibition ‘Car Fetish. I drive, therefore I am’ – definitely one for next time!
The party of the week had to be the Vitra party at the famous Vitra Campus (just over the German boarder). A stunning location with buildings and structures by a who’s who list of celebrity architects, including Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry amongst others. The sun was shinning, DJ playing from the Jean Prouvé designed Petrol Station/come DJ booth for the night and delicious never ending supply of Canapés and drinks.
Vitrahaus, Vitra Campus
So are art fairs the new blockbuster exhibitions? Through my artist tinted specs I would compare art fairs to theme park. They offer entertainment for the masses with short lived thrills, and after so many paintings I know I saw some good pieces but I would struggle to name more than a handful of them. With high price entry and long queues it’s certainly not how I would choose to view art, no matter how good. But what the art fair does do, especially in a place like Basel, is to ignite a city for a week and open up all the museums for people to explore. In London our commercial galleries open shows of their biggest sellers to coincide with Frieze, whereas Basel seemed to have institutions from across the spectrum celebrating all things art and design. To me Basel was more exciting when I went outside of the main fair to some of the stunning museums that open all year round. But with a record 65,000+ people in attendance this year who can argue with the formula?
If a blockbuster exhibition is a high profile, glitzy affair then maybe the art fair is just that. The blockbuster is something our museums should be producing. However with cuts in funding in the UK I believe it’s the private patrons and blue chip galleries of this world that truly have the ability to produce a blockbuster exhibition without the claustrophobic fair setting. Just look at Gagosian’s (Britannia Street, London) Picasso and Crash (A Homage to JG Ballard) exhibitions last year – epic in resources and scale without compromising the viewer.
Andy Wicks ‘On Painting’
I wrote this article recently for Rise Art which was first published on their website, it describes details on my practice, influences and techniques. My Art Basel report will follow later in the week.
My paintings are worked on in groups, each one is made up of two distinct layers. Both layers are painted with oil paint, but both do different things. I like systems and order, and creating defined rules to work by. I explore the city with a camera, then reference it on the canvas.
My influences
Im a fan of German abstraction, as seen in artists such as Albert Oehlen whose use of chaos could end up looking as a dark oily mess, but he somehow always makes it work. I think I respond to elements of visual discord which simultaneously please and repel the viewer. I’ve also been looking at Gert & Uwe Tobias’ woodcuts recently, which sit between dark fairytale narratives and graphic geometry. The woodcuts are used to produce one-off pieces and, as such, have a painterly feel, with the imperfections and glitches from the process unashamedly on display.
'Gezeichnete Hunde' by Albert Oehlen (2005), oil on canvas
The research
I explore the city with my camera to find oddities and intrigue. I find myself drawn to the materiality of objects especially industrial sites and those where function outweighs design. I particularly look for sights where weather and pollution have worn surfaces down letting mold or rust set in. My current series has taken me to the River Thames where I have been studying ‘dolphins’, or mooring constructions. Objects which have mostly long lost their purpose now sit slowly being worn by the tide eventually to be reclaimed by the riverbed. So far I’ve covered about 50 miles from Kew in the west to Thamesmead out east. While the motivation for doing this was originally to get photographs to feed my paintings, I’ve actually really enjoyed learning about London through the riverside architecture. It’s fascinating to see how people live and the varied levels of wealth, with much of the social housing now turned into expensive modern flats the riverfront is starting to lose its individual character.
Image by the River Thames, Woolwich Arsenal
The process
I make my paintings in a two-stage process which when viewed separately, could be identified as works by two different artists. At the start of a piece I’ll be moving round the canvas laid flat on the studio floor, smudging resin into the weave of the canvas with gloves so it pools over the surface. Then pouring thinned oil from jars, tilting and adjusting the position of the canvas to create the background.
Painting ground, resin & thinned oil paint
Once dry I paint the foreground structure that sits on the resin ground. The foreground is painted with the canvas flat on a table and in contrast to the background is painted carefully with fine brushes to create the straight architectural lines. Its the layering of messy action painting technique and controlled graphical detail which interests me and perhaps gives me renewed energy having time working in both head spaces. While the resin backgrounds reference process painting and a wealth of abstract art history, they can also draw comparisons to rapid flowing water or weather systems.
Andy's studio
The titles
The names of my paintings come from the Atlantic list of Hurricane names where each storm has its name taken from a list of alternating male and female names. The naming of each painting imbues the structure a gender and reinforces the personification suggested by the portrait orientation canvas and composition. While also referencing the weathering of the dolphins and the eddies that appear in the painted grounds.
'Lisa', one of the limited edition prints that Andy Wicks has produced in collaboration with Rise Art.
Last weeks of Residency
Its the last full week of studio time left of the Florence Trust, having started the year back in August its shocking how quickly time has flown by. Rather than an almighty rush to finish things off, I’ve found the last few days as more of a natural conclusion to my time here. Putting time into finishing a few pieces and reviewing the body of work I’ve created. The catalogue has been designed and is looking particularly sharp while somewhat progressive for those used to Florence Trust publications of past years. The essay is done and nicely sums up 11 individual practices, i’ll upload what writer Colin Perry put together for me once its been published next month. Its safe to say the catalogue will be a great keep sake and resource for any visitors and art enthusiasts that get their hands on it. As well as winding down and preparing for the show, we’ve also been keen to make the most of the studio gardens in the sun (this is our reward for surviving some cold cold months throughout the winter!) so we had a BBQ last week which did the trick. We enjoyed some special pork prepared by (Taisuke) Makihara which believe it or not will form part of his exhibition piece, so as well as eating some tasty meat we were also doing our bit to help with his work!
sunset through the stainglass window
We’re all off to Art Basel next week, my first taste of Switzerland and one of the worlds biggest art fairs. Everyone’s excited about going and I can safety say, we’re looking forward to letting our hair down following some busy recent weeks and with more on our return. I don’t really know what to expect from Basel, I guess it’ll be like a bigger Frieze. Things to look forward to – LISTE, billed as the young art fair where all galleries are under 5 years old and artists all under 40. LISTE sounds like Zoo art fair which was always a refreshing change to the buzz and bluechips of its bigger brother. Another one i’m told to look out for is Art Unlimited which is a curated show within the fair dedicated to large scale installation, video, installation and performance. One of my fellow resident artists Annelore Schneider is half of Collectif-fact who have been nominated for this years Swiss Art Award, another exhibition which coincides with our trip. It’ll be great to see Annelore and Claude’s (Piguet) work installed amongst the fellow nominees and our fingers are crossed for them.
I’ll be writing a report on Basel which I’ll publish on my return. Once back it’ll be time to take the current studios apart and reconfigure the space for the Summer show. I’ll start to sort through my work to choose what makes the cut for the exhibition before getting on with tackling the hang. An early reminder for those interesting in seeing the show – the Private view is on Thursday 7th July (6 – 9pm) and its then open daily until Monday 18th July.
leave a comment