Exhibition Catalogue
Love Stories <3 the Old Biscuit Factory March 2019
Page 1 - Florent
Poussineau Andytookit Page 2 - Pam Su Asli Umur Page 3 - Yvonne
Leon Anne-Marie Stijelja
Page 4 - Jahan
Gerrard Myriam Tillson
Page 5 - O.
Yemi Tubi Gabriella Kardos
Page 6 - Fred
Fabre James Ventre
Page 7 - Peter
Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Alessandri Annie Zammero
Page 8 - Emma
Page 12 - Emma
Dolphin Taha Afshar
Page 13 - Garfield
of London
Mia-Jane Harris & John Gathercole
Page 14 - Violeta
Ivanova Massimo V Rossetti
Angold Page 15 - Emily Blackmore Matthew Pritchard Kjell Zillen Page 9 - Catalina Ungureanu Page 16 - Alice Karveli Anja Blau Page 10 - Catherine Amakars Robin Leverton Page 11 - Alix Emery Victoria Helena Mihatovic
Index
The conception of love is defined as the search for one’s half or as the desire to become one. These two raw materials symbolize affective attraction. The love of the body is inferior to the love of the spirit, for the first is ephemeral: “As soon as the flower of this body which he loved is faded, he flies away with wings, betraying all his speech and its promises. While the one who loves the soul remains the lover all his life, because he adheres to something constant” (The symposium, Plato). Wood and marzipan, by their plastic qualities, bind to each other. Installed vertically, this form demonstrates its fragility. Just like a friendly or loving feeling it is necessary to protect and maintain it. A bad attention of the hydrometry of the place, where these assemblages are installed, will cause the separation of the elements.
Florent Poussineau
www.florentpoussineau.fr www.facebook.com/florent.pousspouss www.instagram.com/florent_poussineau/ www.twitter.com/Pousspousss www.linkedin.com/in/florent-poussineau-55140093/
Love is symbolic. The story of the nervous “virgin bride”, clutching her single red rose, barefoot in the ruins of this palatial staircase. The ballerinas represent order and disorder, conforming or not and the chaos that may ensue; tradition, loyalty, commitment, ambition are questioned. The abandoned building being a metaphor for what can happen if you don’t “keep your house in order”. In the end it will just fall down around you and love is lost. The animals? well, they will just carry on being themselves.
Andytookit
www.andytookit.com andytookit@gmail.com
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Gesualdo is named after the Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo who murdered his wife and her lover as he discovered them in bed. It was an act committed from love betrayed, and the imponderable fuel of insuppressible rage and sadness. I approach ceramics in the vein of the abstract expressionists with glaze as my palette. My work is informed by a level of the personal and psychological realism, in that each piece embodies the present-ness of feelings, memories and thoughts during which they were created. Often, disillusionment, decay, despair, pain and turmoil intertwine with hints of joy, fantasy and pangs for escape and childhood. Being anomalous and amorphous in form, they avail room for interpretation and seeing idiosyncratic to the viewer. A seeing waltzing between material boundaries, tensions, and dichotomies.
pamsu0@gmail.com www.pamsuceramics.com www.instagram.com/pamsuceramics/
Pam Su
A lucky shot from the window of an old building in Arles, the title (Amour) is on the picture itself
Asli Umur asliumur@gmail.com Instagram: @aumur_
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My figurative Ceramics draw people into a world of narrative that touches on the human experience. They explore themes based on emotions, intimacy, relationships and captured moments. The figures I create are â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the Moment.â&#x20AC;? They are reflective in their mood and calm in thought, almost captured in a dream state. I have explored different themes of comfort, nurturing, love, grief and how they affect us. Protection of oneself and empathy for others is a subject that I have revisited many times and I will continue to do so. I am currently looking at couples and the dynamics between them, the intimacy and the search to find bonds with others. This piece represents two figures bound together in their love and commitment to each other, with all the intimacy and restrictions that comes with that.
Yvonne Leon yvonneleonart@gmail.com www.yvonneleonceramics.com/ www.instagram.com/yvonneleonceramics/ www.facebook.com/yvonneleonceramics/
Throughout my life I have immersed myself in all areas of art. My practise focuses on a multidisciplinary approach through, sculpture, print, textiles, painting and collage. I often explore environmental themes and I have an affinity to use discarded and found objects, studying their history and bringing them back to life to allow them to have a second chance of survival. I am extremely resourceful with my materials.
Anne-Marie Stijelja amstijelja@btinternet.com www.amstijelja.com
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The diptych “Rift” is one of my latest paintings. During the process I put two canvases together to make the format bigger, and that division created some tension between the two parts. I worked on exploring colours and shapes that relate to the feeling of loss and separation. I thought that this painting can be related to the theme “Love Stories <3”. I apply colour in a patchwork way, like building with colour across the surface. I am interested in how colours contrast with each other and in the harmony between them. This approach is dynamic and spontaneous in applying the paint on the canvas.
jahangerrard@yahoo.co.uk www.jahangerrard.co.uk www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100005955346612 www.instagram.com/jahangerrard/?hl=en
Jahan Gerrard
I like to think of my work as quite psychological, and relating to the complexity of human relationships. The pieces I am interested in submitting to the show explore the layers that make-up love and relationships, and I strive to examine and represent both the beauty of love, and its almost inextricable link with pain, heartbreak and turmoil. I am interested in the double-edged sword that is caring for another and the vulnerability that it inevitably unveils, while also revealing our strength and determination to keep loving despite the risks it carries.
Myriam Tillson myriam.tillson@gmail.com www.myriamtillson.com www.instagram.com/myriamtillson/ www.youtube.com/user/Hedgesloth 4
I painted a scene of a domestic abuse in which the husband sat reading newspaper while the wife is overwhelmed with the domestic tasks. I created the wife with rose and stems of thorns with the crown of thorns to show her suffering. Couples should not focus on their partners’ thorns but appreciate the fragrance of love emanating from them.
O. Yemi Tubi oyemit@aol.com www.o-yemi-tubi.pixels.com www.facebook.com/oyemiarts www.instagram.com/oyemit www.twitter.com/OyemiartsOyemit
Domestic Abuse is one of the social issues that have negative impacts on the families and the world at large. Domestic abuse often leads to substance misuse, homelessness and criminality. Victims of domestic abuses often become abusers and may engage in some anti-social vices. Home is the basis of our society. If there is Love in the home, there will be harmony. Harmonious home produces happy family; happy families make up harmonious society. In harmonious society there will be no fighting and hatred We all need to work toward harmonious society.
My paintings are arrived at intuitively but are often started with the intention of representing an idea, which in this instance is my son’s childhood and the extraordinary love and excitement with which it infused my life. The painting underwent several stages and was originally inspired by drawings made by my son between the ages of 3 and 5. The silk dress attached to the canvas was made by me years before the birth of my son. Its inclusion here works on many levels, at an intuitive level the delicate pink dress carries its own life-force through which the flux of experience is interpreted in terms of time, the torn threads become a different kind of brushstroke, one of them carrying the sentence “and on this thread I found embossed love, love, love” from An Autobiography of a Yogi in which the original word “God” is replaced by “love”.
gabriellakardos@yahoo.co.uk www.gabriellakardos.com instagram: @ghkardos
Gabriella Kardos 5
To explore sexual narratives in the post #metoo era Fabre uses an uninhibited queer character challenging masculinity and the patriarchal conceptions of male sexuality. Iconic symbols or tales and narratives are happily intertwined throughout the various series of Fabre’s rendering of life. His paintings are a continual exploration of colour and form as a mean to explore the essence, energy of a place and the expansion of the inner self.
Fred Fabre fredfabreartist@gmail.com www.drawlogia.com/ @drawlogia (Instagram)
This painting is taken from a series which explores the idea of masculinity, taking stereotypical representations of “maleness” and juxtaposing it with more traditionally feminine elements, colours and adornments, adding a playful twist. Celebrating those individuals who may feel “othered” within the queer community itself. In particular these paintings look at the experiences of members of the community in private environments where there is no pressure to perform for an audience. Contrasting the romanticised ideals of a modern homosexual relationship (interpersonal or otherwise), against social expectations. “The desire to sashay away, boots the haus down, werq! isn’t consistently felt by all members of the community when in their own space. This, for some is a performance they feel obligated to perform in the presence of others to facilitate a sense of belonging and acceptance which may have been absent in their lives previously.”
James Ventre jamie.ventre@hotmail.co.uk www.Jamesventre.com @Simbajimbob
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I have always been interested in the dynamic relationships between the artist, the model and the viewer. The “Relationships Series” evolved from a number of simple figure studies that I was working on from 20052007. I set out to explore the relationships between two figures within a composition, in both a spatial and an emotional sense. I had become fascinated with how the addition of that second figure within a composition transforms these relationships, compelling the viewer to install a narrative, create a “story” to explain what they were looking at, quite often at odds with my own intentions.
Peter D’ Alessandri
dalessandri@gmail.com www.dalessandri.co.uk/ Instagram: @peter_dalessandri
The title ‘Take One’ refers to the clapper board (lower right of painting) and Meghan’s previous acting career in the TV series ‘Suits’. As the first take it makes us wonder how long the couple’s love affair will last. Whilst Harry is in military uniform, Meghan is only wearing a bath towel, which references her appearances in the TV series when she was similarly dressed. This painting was featured twice in the Evening Standard ‘The Londoner’ diary in May and August 2018, as have other works of Zamero.
ruthstein9@btinternet.com www.anniezamero.co.uk www.facebook.com/anniezamero www.instagram.com/anniezamero
The work is part of Zamero’s satirical series of caricatures of royalty and politicians, posing as figures from Old Master paintings, and therefore set in art historical context. This involves the idea of the political cartoon as a piece of fine art.
Annie Zammero 7
The Way We Work is an exploration of my relationship with my partner, Joe. The black and white portraits of us embody the innate need humans have for support. In the image, he supports me in a peculiar pose. I cannot have that form without him, and his pose would be unnecessary without me. The power oscillates between us, just like in other aspects of our relationship. This exploration of our bodies also pushes us mentally as a couple. In order to attain new postures like this, we must communicate well, fully trust each other, and work around each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limitations, just like we do in ordinary life. Together we push our relationship, and bodies, to the limit, to see just how far we can go.
emma.angold@gmail.com www.emmaangold.com Instagram: @emmaangold
Emma Angold
Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buildings and alleyways, the very fabric of the city, provide perfect camouflage for secret rendezvous and illicit encounters. The fluorescent light is bright and harsh, creating pools of shadow into which we secrete. Above ground we scurry, faces illumined by our pocket daemons, disconnected, isolate. United, we embrace and commune, secure in the glow of an other.
Matthew Pritchard matthew_pritchard@yahoo.com www.pritchard.photos www.instagram.com/m.pritchard.mono/ www.instagram.com/m.pritchard.colour www.facebook.com/www.pritchard.photos/ 8
My practice deals with the ideas of numbness, human contact and unhealthy mental states, approached on a personal level, based on my understanding of the psychological behavior. I see the work as an investigation and display of extremely private feelings, such as depression, mental paralysis, stagnation and alienation, and it conveys a sense of anxious confusion, constructed by exposing everyday situations and objects to a sense of enigma and ambiguity. These themes evolved into a general idea of the “solipsist” painting, an image enclosed in its own space and narrative, encapsulating the concepts of fake reality and psychological trauma, something that’s palpable and easy to recognize, confused and lucid at the same time. My intention is also to take both myself and the viewer back to an internal state and into a personal inquiry through the reading of the image.
Catalina Maria Ungureanu mariaungureanu0615@gmail.com website: www.catalinaungureanu.com Instagram: @catalinaa_u
A ‘heartbroken self-portrait’ taken during a sleepless night after an unexpected end of a relationship back in 2009. One shot to captured everything; pain, nakedness, hopelessness, surrender, devastation...heartbreak. In my art I like to explore the human mind and body. I investigate what provokes us, why do humans do what they do and what is hidden underneath the surface. Each element in my work is crucial to the entire piece. I want the viewer to think and feel on a new level, a level which they usually would not engage with on a daily basis. What secrets are we masking, what story lies behind it. I want to provoke emotions in the viewer but also challenge them to engage with their own cravings and fears, open their minds to see more than the eye allows them to see.
Anja Blau aenyab.carbonmade.com aenyab2@gmail.com
I investigate love, pain and human longings we all have but often don’t dare to say out loud. The ‘beauty of the broken’ is something that reoccurs in my work and that I feel fascinated by. Testing the norms of what we, as a society, label as ‘beautiful’ and how we can re-shape those standards. I am an art Student with Oxford Brookes and currently in my final year of a two year Foundation Degree in Creative Arts and Design Practice. 9
Catherine Amakars explores the body, the mind, and the spiritual binds between man and woman. With strong focus on female sexuality Amakars highlights unparalleled beauty and strength of the female form. In relation to the theme Love Stories, both of the artworks reflect upon separation and loss of the unity between the two individuals. Trust that has been fritted away finds solace within the strength of ones rejected heart. Two dominant colours, red and blue, are a subconscious representation of the inner emotional state. Red being the force of passion and love; fire of sensuality and emotional turmoil fights against the darkness of blue that dwells upon the death of love and unity. Destructive coldness of blue shadows represent the end of life within the union of two. Red vs blue, pride vs heart, forgiveness vs denial all lead into the ultimate battle for retrieving the loss of trust and love.
Catherine Amakars catherineamakars@gmail.com Instagram: catherineamakars www.catherineamakars.com
Eve and the snake explores the relationship between the two biblical characters. Famously, the snake convinces Eve that the fruit of the tree of knowledge will bring her to know good and evil, but the process of doing so reveals her own nakedness and vulnerability. This painting shows the seductive serpent coiling itself around Eve to whisper in her ear. She is wary of the serpent, yet it comfortable with its presence, desiring the knowledge the figure promises, lending her ear. It is a story of exploitation and willing participation. The snakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye stares out at the viewer, sharing with us a smirk as though it is about to pull on Eveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arm, exposing her while Eve tightly grips her leg, holding her defensive position and, faceless, remains expressionless, impenetrable and resolute.
robinlevertonart@gmail.com www.instagram.com/robinleverton/ www.facebook.com/robin.leverton
Robin Leverton 10
Dreamboat (It’s not the tragedies that kill us, it’s the messes) is an emotional situationist sculpture where I try (and fail) to manifest digital communication into the real world. The cultural meaning of a dreamboat is explored where I compare the immateriality and insubstantiality of dreams against the digital through the structure of a boat. The paper-mache is formed of messages from a failed relationship, mirroring the failure of the boat as a boat. The piece talks of the compulsion of loving bad things, sadnesses and our petty survivals. Violent sentimentality turns into a mushy, normal and, worst of all, comic mess.
lxemery098@gmail.com www.alixemery.com Instagram: @alixemery
My artistic process masochistically archives awkward relationships turning them into post truth like evidence, this “evidence” into arguments, arguments into bland normality, normality into cliche, and then cliche into your average mess. The flood of emotional exposure and life with it’s failed experiments descends into abstracted wrecks.
Alix Emery
My process heavy work focuses on the repurposing of industrial and earth-derived materials, twisting our perceptions of what we experience in the every day. I seek to investigate the affect of collective memory and how that is handed down through generations and materials. My objects become hints of a cultural transgression against the digital and assigned states of being. With a curiosity as to how this manifests from the past into the present, my practice becomes a commentary on and a questioning of how we move through this world.
Victoria Helena Mihatovic info@victoriahelena.com www.victoriahelena.com www.instagram.com/ vhmstudio 11
Emma Dolphin emma.dolphin@network.rca.ac.uk
This work explores how we experience memories as a collection of moments, which our mind then stores as vignettes, captured and frozen in time. It is a visual poem, celebrating being in love and the qualities of love. But it is a piece, which also recognises the aching melancholy of lost love, engaging in the concept that the memory of a time or event, is only alive whilst there is somebody to remember it. My work examines the elusive and the illusory, memory, dream and what may be considered reality. It often presents the viewer with a depiction, or traces of events. These events may take different forms, describing a subject that may be current, previous or have the potential to be experienced as an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;elusive momentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. That is, the fleeting moment of transition that transpires into the here and now.
In this painting, Afshar is taking on some of the most sacred themes within figurative art but from the standpoint of painter in the early 21 st century. In this context, the artwork is entirely at odds with popular movements within contemporary painting, but fundamentally resonant with a timeless the subject matter that has brought western art to where it is today. In essence what Afshar is doing is dismissing insider contemporary art culture, shedding the baggage of idiosyncrasy, so as to focus and explore some of the most potent and binding truths that have inspired artists for nearly a millennia. Moreover he is shining light on the unifying aspects of monotheism, so as to convey a message of harmony, heavenly bliss and contemplation to the modern viewer.
Taha Afshar
taha@tahaafshar.com www.tahaafshar.com Instagram @tahaafshar Facebook @tahaafshar110 12
“With a cacophony of wants and needs in your life, look for the space to find your peace” Passion drives our desires and at the center is you. Our lust, wants, and desires within a love story can be chaotic, maddening, and all consuming. But when we find the quiet within our desires, then we can really discover our pleasures. ❤ Focus on the Symbol and Listen to your Breath ❤
GAH.Free2BU@gmail.com www.instagram.com/gahfreetobeyou/ www.facebook.com/GahFreeToBeYou2/ www.GAH-FreeToBeYou.com
Garfield Of London is a mental well-being Conceptual Artist. His contemporary art practice focuses on anchoring and triggering positive memories & emotions of happiness. Garfield’s practice is driven by his investigation into emotion, memory, self-liberation, and transformation. Central to his work is ‘The Symbol of GAH!’ a visual aesthetic signifying – good thoughts – good words – good actions.
Garfield of London
‘44640 Minutes’ by John Gathercole and Mia-Jane Harris is the result of the pairs first sculptural collaboration which celebrates these two renowned artists personal, cognitive and artistic union. This dynamic and sensual assemblage piece- which consists of found objects, vintage collectables, taxidermy and human hair- is a surreal dramatisation of the first month of the artists romantic relationship which culminated in their wiccan marriage ceremony on their one month anniversary. The piece captures the couples dark and questioning sense of humour by exploring their combined vices, joint eccentricities and shared experiences within the whirlwind of their first 44640 minutes together.
Mia-Jane Harris www.mia-janeharris.co.uk Instagram: @art_of_miajane_harris Facebook: The Art of Mia-Jane Harris
Mia-Jane Harris & John Gathercole
John Gathercole www.johngathercole.wixsite.com/artist Instagram: @johngathercoleartist Facebook: John Gathercole Artist 13
“pH Diary” is a long-term experiment that reflects the difficult moments in a relationship. It is an attempt to measure and schematize sorrow, in order to turn it to something less personal. Obtaining an objective expression, feelings lose their sharpness and value. Experiencing that kind of emotional gaps, I started to keep a diary where I measure the pH level of my tears. By collecting and documenting pieces of litmus indicators, I observe whether there is a connection between the depth of sadness and the colour of tears (respectively the change in their chemical composition). The approach that has been used in “ph Diary” appears often in my artistic practise; I usually present my ideas using metaphors, modified meanings and unusual point of views on common things in daily life.
Violeta Ivanova violeta.ivanova@ufg.at www.facebook.com/violeta.ivanova.944
Relationship bind, emotions, love, hate and also violent expressions. My store tell of the power struggle between two men in love but battling out emotions of domination and submission.
Massimo V Rossetti
massimo5@btinternet.com
MVRossetti Facebook #massmax25 Instagram
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As an artist, I explore why people do what they do, visually representing the complexities of the human condition in mixed media and sculpture. My practice is characterized by mixed paint and drawing media and a celebration of diversity. My continuous line series attempts to highlight the paradox of our shared humanity and our unrepeatable singularity. We all have basic needs; however, our experiences, choices, and personalities make us unique.
Emily Blackmore sirimiriartistry@gmail.com www.emilyblackmore.com www.facebook.com/EmilyBlackmoreArt/ www.instagram.com/emilyblackmoreart/ www.twitter.com/SirimiriArt
‘You Dance Inside My Heart’ depicts the special characteristics that people who have been together for a long time can see in each other. This goes far beyond insignificant stuff like looks, size or money. It are the little things: the way the cuppa tea is made, the heart-melting smile, the not-so-funny-jokes-that-still-make-youlaugh. All those things that make you want to run off to the flower shop and buy the biggest sunflower you can find and give it to that one special person’.
Kjell Zillen (BatsWearBlack) k.zillen@gmail.com www.instagram.com/batswearblack www.facebook.com/batswearblack www.etsy.com/batswearblack 15
Both of these pieces have to do with the nature of a relationship that is exploring itself through creativity. They both play with concepts of Self mirroring the Other in symmetry and assymetry, connection or disconnection and in parallel similar yet different inner psychological experiences. The piece “Sahadra” (2015), is an intuitive dance performance made at the start of the relationship, addresses the beauty of seduction, the push-pull play of energies of two partners orbiting each other, as they flow from separateness towards togetherness. “What hides in You / What hides in Me” (2017) is a butoh inspired, static head-and-shoulders performance and is a darkly playful exploration of the shadow-contents (see Jungian psychology term) of two partners juxtaposed, as they traverse side-by-side through the landscape of their inner madness.
Alice Karveli
www.alice-karveli.co.uk/ www.facebook.com/AliceKarveli/?fref=ts www.instagram.com/blackarrowstothesun/ https://vimeo.com/user78117850 https://soundcloud.com/blackarrows-in-blackholes www.youtube.com/channel/UCHN9VZmBq77WTnCn14Zo6sg
www.artnumber23.uk www.instagram.com/artnumber23 www.facebook.com/artnumber23
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Exhibition Catalogue
Love Stories <3
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