Curated by photographer Jason Evans, this new exhibition brought together artefacts from our industrial, consumer society. Handmade signage recalls local commerce, pre-globalisation, and highlights ongoing transitions from analogue to digital. Some of the objects on show remain in circulation today, yet serve as a nostalgic reminder of the technological changes in our recent past.
The exhibition featured pages from the archive of Dick Hambidge, a sign writer from East Kent, who documented his works in meticulous photographic albums, presenting an alternative record of provincial life.
Also on show were a selection of erudite political ‘lampoons’ by Ditchling printmaker Philip Hagreen, loaned by Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. Hagreen’s wood engravings feel as relevant now as when they were published eighty years ago.
Visitors were able to see an intriguing selection of original items from Clark Brothers of Manchester, who continue to hand produce point-of-sale marketing materials for a disappearing High Street.
Finally, the exhibition also featured an interactive photo opportunity, social media content, a marketing soundtrack and a new series of Evans’ own binary screen prints. Visitors were also advised to look out for people in Nottingham who participated in a project that Jason is running alongside the exhibition; they wore T-shirts which feature a wood-engraving by Philip Hagreen.
All images courtesy of Julian Lister and the artists.
Jason Evans (b. 1968) is a multidisciplinary photographer who, since the early 1990s, has had a broad cultural practice. His output has developed to include writing and teaching alongside applied image making. He works around art, fashion and street photography tropes, making images which are often informed by vernacular culture. His long-term projects with musicians Four Tet, Caribou and Radiohead resulted in influential sleeve imagery and portraits which seek to redefine the relationships between sound and image.
Since 2004, Evans has maintained The Daily Nice, which celebrates simple pleasures as their own reward. Every day an image of something which made him happy is presented on this one page, non-archived website.
His work is exhibited internationally, and his game-changing series Strictly is held in the Tate collection. Solo shows include his nomination for the Grange Prize at the AGO in Toronto and a retrospective of his Fashion work at the Hyeres Festival du Mode. His monographs include NYLPT (Mack, 2012) and Pictures for looking at (Printed Matter, 2014).
Thursday 18 May, 7 pm – 8.30 pm – Jason Evans Exhibition Walkthrough
Join us on the penultimate day of Jason Evans’ curated exhibition for an informal and open discussion between Evans & Bonington Gallery curator Tom Godfrey. Hear more about the objects and works on show and the stories and histories that informed their selection.
Ahead of the opening of You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat, we caught up with Jason Evans to ask him a few questions about the exhibition….
Most people will know you as a photographer, but this exhibition seems quite different to most of your work – can you tell us how the idea came about?
Thankfully, most people don’t know me at all. While my work has many strands there is a foundation in my relationship with photography that probably colours how I approach my various outputs. In my work I often use photography to combine objects/ideas within a picture, in this instance I am combining objects/ideas in a room.
Over the last couple of years I have been drawn to these materials which felt both in and out of step with ‘the times’ and I wanted to see what happened when I combined it all, that was the basis for the show. It struck me that there were potential conversations lurking between these things about where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
What has the process of putting the exhibition together been like? Has it been a challenge to think as a curator as well as a photographer / image-maker?
The process of making the show has been smooth and enjoyable. It is a privilege to be able to materialise my thought processes in Nottingham, which I do not take for granted. I have previously curated shows on 90s British documentary photography and contemporary Japanese Photo Books amongst other things, so it was not much of challenge for me, particularly as Tom Godfrey has been a supportive, and cheerful, sounding board.
What can people expect to see when they enter the exhibition?
No spoilers, that is for them to find out… I can promise a bloody big rope and some narrowboat painting. Some of the exhibition is happening off-site around Nottingham, people could unwittingly find themselves in the audience…
Sounds interesting… can you tell us a bit more about what you have planned away from the Gallery?
If you work in the gallery system one big white room can look and feel pretty much like another, regardless of if you’re in Korea or Canada. I look for a reason to be in a specific place, to find out something about the culture beyond the exhibition. I want to make relevant work. I often invite visitors to take something from the gallery out into the community, so the gallery becomes a point of departure that encourages reflection through participation.
In this instance [Philip] Hagreen’s work lends itself to reproduction on t-shirts and so his work will circulate locally in that way. I am looking forward to meeting the volunteers and making portraits with them.
Other than it being ideal to reproduce on a t-shirt – what else drew you to Hagreen’s work?
His work feels relevant. Hagreen made his politically charged ‘lampoon’ prints around the time of the second world war, a time of crisis and austerity. As a nation we are currently engaged in war plus we are, arguably, in crisis and we face an imposed austerity. Go figure…
Can you tell us about your binary prints? What inspired these?
I have been working with diagonally divided blocks of colour painted onto the wall since my first solo show in 2008 and it was the right time to turn this process into objects. I had them industrially screen printed onto display board using a colour palette culled from a Japanese commercial design guide. To me they look like signs, and belong to a colour-way described as ‘pretty’. They are reductive image/text pieces, each one has a two word title, though it remains ambiguous as to which word relates to which colour, a subjective response is encouraged, in that way I think they are photographic.
Your photos often have a similar graphic quality to them in the use of contrasting colours and shapes – is this something you thought about when making the prints?
I guess the way I am hardwired predisposes me to certain aesthetics. While disparate my output has these themes running though it. At times I work in high key ways, enthusiastic for shapes, patterns, repeats, multiples, high contrast and deep saturation… this is one of those times. I also go though periods of producing more nuanced monochromatic work. Last year I got to marry those aesthetics in my Tool Shed Dark Room project.
Can you tell us how/why you first came across Clark Brothers, and what it’s like working with them/the materials they produce? You produced a zine with photos from inside the shop in 2016 – was this the first time you visited the shop?
I first visited Clark Brothers in 2015. It’s just around the corner from the (excellent) Piccadilly Records in Manchester.
I think you find what you need in life, if you are paying attention, it’s all there in front of you.
The window display caught my eye, it was like I had died and gone to heaven when I walked in, total time warp. I recommend a visit, it’s a very specific and poignant cultural experience.
Despite the digital/internet transitions of the last 20 years the business has continued to hand produce promotional materials for the trade industry on the premises and has no online presence. I get a wonderful sense of nostalgia in the place which somehow dodges the long shadows of digital marketing technologies and the property development of the Northern Quarter in Manchester. When I took some of their posters to the New York Art Book Fair with the zine in 2016 they sold out on the second day, somehow it’s also ‘right for now’.
Any final thoughts about the exhibition?
I am looking forward to seeing how the various elements of the show bounce off each other, and I’m curious to see what the audience makes of my new sculpture and prints, it’s the first time I’ve not shown any photography. I wonder what people will make of the [Dick] Hambidge archive – it’s never been seen before. We are encouraging visitors to redefine and redistribute the content with their smart phones; there are specific photo opportunities within the show and relevant hashtags (#youregonnaneedabiggerboat) are suggested. It’s going to be fun meeting the Hagreen volunteers wearing the special t-shirt edition that we have produced to take the show into the city, and hopefully encourage the city to come and see the show.
You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat will open with a preview on Thursday 13 April, 5 pm – 7 pm.
In anticipation of his curated exhibition at Bonington Gallery next year, esteemed photographer Jason Evans paid us a visit to see the gallery, discuss ideas and explore the city. Here’s a collection of images he took during his time here:
Here is a selection of photos of a workshop that was delivered by Giorgio Sadotti’s as part of Shapeless Impact Not Time Slow Is (Flits By).
To mark the opening of his solo exhibition here at the Gallery, Giorgio Sadotti led 80+ volunteers in an INAUGURATING INCANTATION. With the audience entering in silence and into near total darkness, the performance evoked the sense of a sort-of ritual taking place in a cave. Evidence of the performance has now been left in the space, creating an installation which will remain throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Just a few photos from the preview of Shapeless Impact Not Time Slow Is (Flits By) last week, following the INAUGURATING INCANTATION performance.
Thanks to all who came along to the preview, and special thanks to all the volunteers who took part in the performance. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Giorgio Sadotti will be giving a live lecture next week in Newton building’s lecture theatre (just across the road) – don’t miss it!
A solo exhibition by Giorgio Sadotti
The vast majority of my art is generated conceptually through the use of linear type ideas and thoughts, systems related to the creative potential of the ‘found’, order, dis-order, the acceptance of chance, context categorization and the gesture.
It is also related to mathematical and geometric contemplation, measurement, location, repetition, repetition and linguistic structure / time.
The voice of the group, the body as a concept as related to authorship and ownership, the original / copy are also notions dealt with in my mind.
Saying something about something.
In my futile attempt to try to find something, anything, that isn’t already divided I experience glorious failure which I embrace and present as art.
I am fascinated by the power of refusal, the very idea of not doing something even though you are capable of doing it, the right and creative beauty of potential to do compared to the reality of the done.
The notion that the more language you have the harder it is to say something appeals. As does the idea that where language fails possibly art begins.
Visual love and linguistic and linguistic and audio audio bastard hallucination.
Giorgio Sadotti
With contributions from guest artists: Paul Noble, Michael Proudfoot, Chris Watts, and Elizabeth Wright
To mark the opening of his solo exhibition here at the Gallery, Giorgio Sadotti led 80+ volunteers in an inaugurating incantation. With the audience entering in silence and into near total darkness, the performance evoked the sense of a sort-of ritual taking place in a cave. Evidence of the performance has now been left in the space, creating an installation which will remain throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Thursday 2 March, 5.15 pm – 7.30 pm – Fine Art Live Lecture Series Presents: Giorgio Sadotti
The Fine Art Live Lecture Series is an initiative by Nottingham Trent University’s Fine Art course, whereby creative practitioners are invited to deliver a lecture to current students. The lectures are also open to staff, alumni and the general public.
Giorgio Sadotti (b.1955, Manchester) lives and works in London. His work is in public collections including the Tate and the British Council. Sadotti completed an Art Foundation course at Nottingham Trent University (formerly Trent Polytechnic) in 1977.
Recent works include:
Here is a selection of photos from the opening of out show, All Men By Nature Desire To Know
The history of painting will be explored in a new exhibition of four contemporary artists whose work broadens and challenges our understanding of the traditional medium. All Men By Nature Desire to Know – at Bonington Gallery from Friday 13 January to Friday 17 February – will present a variety of works which examine the evolution of the art form and reflect how it’s been influenced over time. The exhibition – curated by Nottingham-based artist Joshua Lockwood – features works by Stefania Batoeva, Flora Klein, Audrey Reynolds and Alan Michael. There will be an accompanying text by Rachal Bradley.
“Painting is the world’s oldest art form and hasn’t died out by any means,” says Josh. “It has changed considerably through history and is used in different ways today than used to be. Today there are many ways to create an image, instantly and with more simplicity than by painting. Contemporary painters adopt these new modes of image making to inform their painting, opening up dialogues of their position within the present.
“Technological development, such as photography and more, has made painting more indefinite, allowing the movement of painting towards abstract art, transgressing Western painting historically of being the art of representation.
“Painting is quite a difficult medium as it demands your full attention. You can look at a painting for five seconds or hours in the action of analysis. As such it can be hard for viewers to unpack for we are used to seeing imagery taken through a lens.
“This exhibition brings together four contemporary practitioners who are working today, adding to the continuing narrative of the medium of painting. Influences from the past are absorbed and rejected creating a fresh reality for each painting.”
Here is a selection of artists and their works for our exhibition All Men By Nature Desire to Know
Stefania Batoeva (b. 1981 Sofia, Bulgaria) is a London-based artist who graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2014. Her paintings cross between the traditional form of painting and sculpture – often created as site specific work.
Batoeva’s work also blurs the line between abstract and figure-based painting, exploring ideas around the subconscious and memory.
The paintings are difficult to categorise – as Batoeva captures moments in vivid colours which feel similar to distant memories; almost-recognisable figures obscured by heavy brush-strokes, smears and scratch – or the figures themselves represented through loose brush-stokes themselves, almost disappearing into the background.
Stefania will be producing new works specifically for All Men By Nature Desire To Know. Find out more:
Recent solo exhibitions include:
Recent group exhibitions include:
Audrey Reynolds lives and works in London and Folkestone, and studied at Bath College of Art and at Chelsea College of Art, London.
Reynolds’ work is a mix of sculpture, installation and painting – all of which incorporate seemingly random objects and materials including modelling clay and household paints, as well as fitted carpets, ribbons and brass letters.
Layers of paint are built up and scratched away, with the found objects embedded into the surface of double-sided paintings, creating sparse but carefully arranged compositions. On the other hand, installations of rugs and carpets blur the line between a functional object and an artwork. In her writing, Reynolds exposes fragments of everyday life, reflecting on the ordinary before slipping into more abstract passages where it isn’t clear quite who or what is being written about, while still conveying a sense of something personal… in a way, something quite similar to her paintings.
Audrey will be producing new works specifically for All Men By Nature Desire To Know.
Solo exhibitions include:
A collection of her writing will be published by AkermanDaly in Spring 2017.
Flora Klein was born in 1988 Bern, Switzerland, she currently lives and works in Berlin. She Graduated with a BA in Fine Arts at ECAL, Lausanne in 2013.
Layers of acrylics are used to build up abstract blocks of colour with contrasting strands spreading across the top of the base layers like ribbons. Although Klein’s work is easy to identify in style (the paintings often share a palette of bold oranges, browns and reds, and recurring lines and shapes can also be found between the works), none of the works have a clear subject or even a main focal point.
As a result, a lot of the meaning is left up to the viewer – the paintings don’t immediately suggest a clear emotion, are neither masculine or feminine, and the titles don’t give many clues either.
Find out more about Flora’s recent exhibitions:
For this exhibition, Flora will be showing new works which have not been seen in the UK before.
Alan Michael was born in 1967 in Paisley, Scotland, he now lives and works in London.
Michael’s paintings are often photorealistic renderings of everyday objects, taken from obscure reference photos – or film stills as is the case with his latest work included in All Men By Nature Desire To Know.
The other side to Michael’s work includes text-based paintings which also borrow from varied reference points – including brand names and pop culture references – as well as referring to other artworks and art movements.
All of Michael’s work seems to hone in on meticulous details, but the meaning behind the paintings is harder to pin down. The mix of text and imagery sometimes seem to be at odds with each other, or at least have little obvious links. Still, the works draw the viewer in; inviting you to try and unpick them and the intentions of the painter.
Alan Michael has produced new works specifically for All Men By Nature Desire To Know. Here are a couple of sneak peeks:
Recent solo exhibitions include:
Recent group exhibitions include:
Bonington Vitrines are a series of micro exhibitions which take place within the Bonington Gallery Foyer. They comprise of three display cases which present a variety of objects, artworks and printed material.
Marbled Reams was a publishing project run by Bonington Gallery curator Tom Godfrey from 2009–2012. It involved inviting individuals to submit A4 works on paper that were reproduced to a value of 500 pages (a ‘ream’). The front edge of each paper stack was marbled and then pages were available to be purchased individually.
Certain artists challenged the confines of the project. Sam Gordon produced 500 different pages; Laura Aldridge made a double sided work; Mark Harasimowicz hand fed 500 pieces of newsprint into his home printer and Heike-Karin Föll made a five page work that is repeated through the ream.
The project has previously been exhibited at Limoncello, London; Donlon Books, London; The Modern Institute, Glasgow and CCA, Glasgow. It has also been presented at publishing fairs including Publish & Be Damned, London; Spike Island Book & Zine Fair, Bristol and Three Letter Words, London.
Laura Aldridge, Jennifer Bailey, Aline Bouvy and John Gillis, Emma Cocker, Kimi Conrad, Sean Cummins, Sean Edwards, Ed Fella, Heike-Karin Föll, Dan Ford, Babak Ghazi, Sam Gordon, Mark Harasimowicz, David L. Hayles, Ann Cathrin November Høibo, Matt Jamieson, Scott King, Jon Knight, Piotr Łakomy, Sara MacKillop, David Newey, David Osbaldeston, Anna Parkina, James Richards, James E Smith, Jack Strange, Steven Warwick and Jean-Michel Wicker
We live in an era of globalisation and interconnectivity, with an ever-growing amount of information and images easily available at our fingertips.
Painting, once the dominant medium in western visual culture, is now just one in a range of contemporary art genres. It is clear painting will not return to the pre-eminent position it once had, but will any other visual medium achieve the status painting held?
All Men By Nature Desire To Know brings together four invited artists who see painting as a significant part of their practice. The history of painting is continuously being overlaid and re-written by artists for whom the act of painting is both an accumulative and contentious process – influences are being absorbed and rejected.
The artists within this exhibition produce work that broadens and challenges the traditional form of painting, bringing their personal histories to their practice as well as traversing what has gone before. Each painting is self-contained as well as being part of a continuum; painting practice is opening out into other spaces, creating dialogues and furthering debate.
With accompanying text by Rachal Bradley.
Curated by Joshua Lockwood.
All images courtesy of Julian Lister and the artists.
Stefania Batoeva (b. 1981 Sofia, Bulgaria) lives and works in London. Graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2014. Stefania has produced works specifically for All Men By Nature Desire To Know.
Recent solo exhibitions include:
Recent group exhibitions include:
Flora Klein (*1988 Bern, Switzerland) lives and works in Berlin. Graduated with a BA in Fine Arts at ECAL, Lausanne in 2013. Flora is showing new works which have not been seen in the UK before.
Recent solo exhibition:
Flora Klein, Galerie Max Mayer, Düsseldorf and Oracle, Berlin, 2016.
Recent group exhibitions include:
Alan Michael (b.1967 Paisley, Scotland) lives and works in London. Alan has created new works specifically for All Men By Nature Desire To Know.
Recent solo exhibitions include:
Recent group exhibitions include:
Audrey Reynolds lives and works in London and Folkestone. Studied at Bath College of Art and at Chelsea College of Art, London. Audrey has produced new works specifically for All Men By Nature Desire To Know.
Solo exhibitions include:
A collection of her writing will be published by AkermanDaly in Spring 2017.
Rachal Bradley (b Blackpool, 1979) currently lives and works in Nottingham where she is a lecturer in the Fine Art department of Nottingham Trent University. An ongoing archive of Bradley’s writing is to be found at www.rachalbradley.eu.
Joshua Lockwood (b. 1991) lives and works in Nottingham. Joshua is an artist based at One Thoresby Street, he is also a curator and co-director of TG Gallery. Joshua was also in residence at Lincoln University & The Collection, Lincoln from 2014-2015
Recent group exhibitions:
S1/OTS, One Thoresby Street, Nottingham 2015
Previous curated exhibitions and film programmes include:
Ahead of the preview of All Men By Nature Desire To Know next Thursday, check out some install shots for a sneak peek at the new work in the show.
