During the course of Performing Drawology, we documented the gallery as it developed with additions and changes being made by the artists in residence.
In residence this week: Joe Graham, Tuesday 2 – Wednesday 3 February; Andrew Pepper, Thursday 4 February; and Martin Lewis, Friday 5 February.
You can see even more photos on the Performing Drawology blog (run by artists and curators of the project, humhyphenhum). You can also explore more of Andrew Pepper’s work from his residency here.
Join us next week for the closing event to see the completion of the exhibition: Thursday 11 February, 5 pm – 8 pm. If you would like to attend, simply RSVP via email to confirm your attendance.
John Court will be the next artist in residence, before humhyphenhum return to the Gallery on the Thursday to bring the drawing process to a close.
Ahead of the opening of our next exhibition, Imprints of Culture: Block Printed Textiles of India, Aesthetica magazine caught up with curator, Eiluned Edwards to find out more about the process and history behind block printing in this in-depth interview…
Aesthetica: The block prints produce delicate and exuberant patterns, could you explain the technique behind this?
Eiluned Edwards: The technique of block printing is highly adaptable so the variety of styles is numerous and used to reflect regional identity, religious and social status, and gender. As links between the craft, fashion and home wares industries have been established, new designs have been introduced and traditional patterns adapted to suit the tastes of urban consumers. The blocks, made of hard wood such as teak and sisam, are engraved with the design – complex patterns using several colours require multiple blocks, which are used in a specific sequence to build up the design. The block is the vehicle that carries the mordant and dye pastes to the cloth: the printer dips the block in the paste tray and then stamps it firmly on the cloth – there is a musicality to the process and you can hear a good printer by the steady percussion of his printing (the craft is a predominantly male preserve). Printing stages are interspersed with dyeing. Some dyes in use require the cloth to be boiled in order to fix the colour – madder, a natural dye that produces red is typical of this process – other dyes are used cold; indigo is a good example. Until the late 19th century all block printers and dyers worked with natural dyes – the classic Indian dyes are indigo and madder. Nowadays, the majority of production is with synthetic dyes, which are cheaper and easier to use although there are environmental issues with some categories of dyestuffs – for example, naphthol dyes, still widely used in India, are banned in Europe because of their toxicity.
A: How does this form of printmaking contribute to the cultural and social make up of India?
EE: Until quite recently, block printed textiles were key components of caste dress, reflecting regional affiliation, occupational and religious identity, social and even economic status. The block printers came under the patronage of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857) as well as the royal courts of princely India, but they served many other social groups, too. Thus they have helped to shape the visual identity of India and played an important role in its material culture – a fact recognised by Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister after the country gained its independence in 1947. From the 1950s onward, Nehru’s government implemented a programme of craft revival in which block printing played an important role. Craft was seen as central to forging a national identity; it would also generate rural employment and revenue from exports. But the impact of block printing on global material culture should not be overlooked; painted and printed cottons were amongst the most important commodities exported from India from at least the medieval period until the 19th century. Chintz, considered an icon of ‘Britishness’, was actually introduced to the UK from India by the East India Company in the 17th century – a painted and printed cotton textile produced on the Coromandel Coast of South India, it transformed British (and European) fashions of the day. Similarly, the export of Indian block prints to East and Southeast Asia has had an enduring impact on the material culture of countries such as China, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia.
A: What are the fabrics typically used and fashioned for?
EE: Block prints have been produced for caste dress, courtly attire and for export – the artisans calibrated designs to suit the tastes of a highly diverse consumer base. Certain categories of block printed textiles have also had a ritual function – for example, mata ni pachedi (cloth of the mother goddess) still painted and printed by the Chitrakar community in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is used by marginal groups such as Rabari nomads, and Chitrakars themselves in worship of the mother goddess, a heterodox expression of Hinduism.
Since the 1970s, there has been a growth in demand for block prints from the global fashion industry. They played a big part in shaping the ‘hippy chic’ aesthetic of the late 1960s and 1970s, and were prevalent in the boutiques of swinging London. More recently, block prints dyed with natural colours have become a feature of the global ‘slow clothes’ movement whose advocates have embraced their rich symbolism, eco-friendly production methods, and rootedness in specific local communities. Delhi-based designer Aneeth Arora, whose label Pero has established a global following for its hand-fashioned garments made from classic Indian textiles, has established an enduring relationship with block printers in Kachchh district, Gujarat. While much of her work has been at the level of couture, she has also designed a collection using ajrakh, a traditional block print worn by animal herders in Kachchh as caste dress, for Indian retail giant Westside, which flew off the racks in 2014. Another advocate of sustainable fashion, social entrepreneur Charlotte Kwon, runs Maiwa Handprints in Vancouver, Canada. A highly successful retail company, Maiwa has introduced Indian block prints to large parts of Canada and North America, an expanding market that supports hundreds of artisans in India.
A: Has the traditional technique allowed for much technical innovation, or has it remained largely unchanged?
EE: The technique is largely unchanged: the artisan still stamps the design on the cloth in the same way as his forebears did going back hundreds of years. There have been changes, however, to the dyes used. By the 1950s, synthetic dyes (naphthol, azo dyes, etc) had almost entirely replaced natural dyes; knowledge of a technology that dates back over 4,500 years in India was rapidly disappearing. The appeal of synthetic dyes lay in their ease of use, cheapness and vivid colours; in comparison, natural dyes are labour-intensive. But a few block printers became concerned that they were losing their traditions – a heritage that can be traced back to the late Harappan period (2500-1500 BCE) when South Asia’s earliest urban culture developed in the Indus Valley region. One such was Khatri Mohammad Siddik of Dhamadka village in Kachchh district, Gujarat, who resumed using natural dyes in the 1970s, and taught his sons techniques that went back at least nine generations in his family. They – Abdulrazzak, Ismail, and Abduljabbar Khatri – are now among India’s foremost block printers and dyers whose work not only reaches a global clientele but is also held in the collections of the V&A, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Musee Guimet, Paris, the Textiles Museum, Washington D.C, and the Calico Museum, Ahmedabad.
Imprints of Culture will be here at the Gallery from Friday 26 February – Thursday 24 March.
Earlier this month, Tom caught up with Experience Nottinghamshire to talk about the Nottingham Art Map; what it is, how it came into being, and why it’s needed in a city like ours.
“Having an Art Map in the city now feels like a matter of course. Over the past 10 years, the independent and institutional art sector has grown exponentially… Nottingham is highly acclaimed as a major contributor to national & international cultural discourse, and it only seems fitting that visitors to the city should be able to engage with all that’s happening in as clear and direct a way possible.”
Read the full feature here, and if you haven’t already, check out the Nottingham Art Map to see what’s on.
You can also pick up your own printed copy from the Nottingham Tourism Centre or from arts venues and cafés across the city.
Over the next few weeks we’re going to feature the work of five renowned designers, giving you an introduction to the life and works of the individuals who have helped shape the design world over the last century and inspired the Alan Kitching and Monotype exhibition.
Alan Kitching Collection
Born in Germany in 1914, Frederic Henri Kay Henrion worked in Paris as a textile designer before moving to the UK in 1936 to work on a commission as a poster designer. During World War II, Henrion was employed by the British Ministry of Information and the US Office of War Information. Post-war, he established himself as a poster and exhibition designer, going on to work for companies across Europe and becoming ” the founding father of modern corporate identity in Europe”. Henrion’s work can still be seen today, including logos and identities that he created for KLM, Tate & Lyle and Blue Circle Industries.
Read about the many faces of FHK Henrion over on the Creative Review website.
I would advise young people to look at everything they encounter in a critical light … Then I would urge them at all times to be self-critical.’
The next featured designer from Alan Kitching and Monotype is designer and teacher, Josef Müller-Brockmann.
Alan Kitching Collection
Famed for his instantly recognisable clean-cut designs and use of grid systems, Josef Müller-Brockmann’s work and writing has inspired many throughout the years, including Alan Kitching.
Read an in-depth interview first published in Eye Magazine no. 19 vol 5, 1995, and find out more about the influence of JMB’s work through the accounts of Joanne Meister, a graphic designer who met him whilst studying at University in 1989.
Known for his often playful designs and book covers, Paul Rand was one of the foremost designers in the mid 1900’s. Some of his most famous work (some of which is still used today) includes corporate logo designs for IBM, ABC and UPS. Rand also wrote several books on design theory and lectured at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
As well as designing for several public service agencies and companies such as Guinness, Gillette, KLM and the Post Office, Tom Eckersley also helped to establish the UK’s first undergraduate Graphic Design course in 1945.Take a look through a selection of Eckersley’s poster designs, find out more about his work, and read an interview between Eckersley and Abram Games (another featured Pioneer of the Poster).
Tom from the gallery attended ‘The University Gallery’ symposium on Friday at the Sluice Art Fair, hosted by NEUSCHLOSS – ‘a group of artists, writers and curators working at or with Northumbria University with specific relation to experimental exhibition or curatorial practices’.
Guest panelists included Gavin Wade (Eastside Projects), Andrea Phillips (Professor of Art and head of Research, Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg) and Prof Matthew Cornford (Head of Fine Art University of Brighton).
The symposium’s quest was to explore the function and role of today’s ‘University Gallery’ by discussing several case studies both past & present, and refer to new research on the subject from Northumbria University.
Although sadly time ran short, the speakers made some very interesting points and this discourse is certainly consistent with the programme/strategic research currently taking place here at Bonington.
Here is a selection of blog posts form Simon Callery’s recent solo show, Soft Painting
Soft Painting has begun! Come and take a look as the exhibition unfolds between now and the preview on Wednesday 29 April, when the paintings will be completed and on show for further two and a half weeks. Visit the exhibition page for more details.
Simon Callery has now been working in the gallery since Monday, along with a select group of BA (Hons) Fine Art students from here at NTU and Nottingham-based artists.
Here’s a quick recap of the week in photos:
Here are some progress shots from this week, taken by local artist and photographer, Julian Hughes:
Assistants: Yajie Jiang and Joshua Wheeler
For more of Julian’s work, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
With just a few days to go until the preview, work on Soft Painting will continue through the weekend. Here’s a recap of the process from this week
From 13 – 29 April, Simon Callery worked in the gallery space with a selected group of Nottingham Trent University BA (Hons) Fine Art students, and a group of Nottingham-based artists to produce three large-scale works. These works will now be on display in the gallery until Friday 15 May. Come and take a look!
Here’s a few photos from last night’s midway preview – thanks to all who came along.
We are delighted to unveil the latest addition to the Nottingham Trent University art collection from artist Simon Callery. Simon joined us in 2015 for his solo exhibition Soft Painting. Wiltshire Modulor (small, 2010-2013) will be on permanent display in Bonington Gallery’s foyer space.
The recent opening of our new exhibitions also marked the un-veiling of the latest addition to the NTU art collection. This joins a host of works and artefacts on display in our foyer that relate to past exhibitions and we’ll be contributing to this selection going forwards.
We would like to invite you to post your photos of our current show Made In Wood, using the hashtag, #madeinwood. Here is a couple of some of the photos that we have seen so far:
From Wednesday 11 March – Wednesday 18 March, Architecture students and staff from Nottingham Trent University and Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway took part in a unique collaborative project. Taking inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, the students have addressed how global cities seem to challenge the laws of gravity, with soaring skyscrapers that compete to reach imposing heights. Watch the video above to see the wooden city takes form in the Gallery…
Read more about the Made in Wood project here.
Made in Wood is under way! Here’s a sneak peek at the work in progress:
Photos by Lena Mari Kolås, one of the visiting students from Bergen Academy of Art and Design.
Come and take a look at the finished work at the Midway Preview on Wednesday 18 March, 5 pm – 8 pm. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to confirm your attendance.
In the meantime, for more photos from the build-up check out our Instagram account!
Bellow is a selection of featured artists from the exhibition, Crafting Anatomies
Exploring Textile Design / Biotechnology in her BIOLOGICAL ATELIER : SS 2082 ‘EXTINCT’ COLLECTION
“At some point, in the not too distant future, biotechnology is going to give the design world the biggest set of completely new materials and tools it has ever had the opportunity to play with.”
Amanda Cotton re-purposes waste materials produced by the human body – not to shock, but to give viewers a different perspective and question preconceived ideas.
Check out Amanda’s website for more of her work
Jon Clair London-based artist who’s work is centred on “digital intimacy”.
