ANTHONY STEVENS THE CONSTANT INSTANT
The philosophy of circularity is central to Anthony Stevens’ practice. A self-taught artist who embroiders fabrics both found and gifted to him, it is the elemental concept of causation and rebirth that is central to his Buddist practice, along with a wicked sense of humour, that plays out through his work. A deep thinker, he effects optimism as he comments that it is us and our choices that frame our experience of life.
In this series there are to-do lists, ‘smileys’, black holes and naval flags. There is bountiful writing supplied by Anthony, each piece has its own comment. Some examples include The Night Bloom Series which he says are “an ongoing investigation into how the processes of human life are reflected in the world around us. Growth and the creative space in its many facets are often dark, whether it be the womb, the earth, sleep or the limitless bounds of inner and outer space. These spaces and processes can give a sense of appreciation and awe to the mystery of life. In the dark, we can develop new aspects of ourselves, we can learn to see in new ways that were previously unknown to us. We can’t rely on the usual senses of the daylight world and something new has to emerge. Without darkness there is no newness, no fecundity, only eventual depletion. It is as essential to life as the sun in the sky and the air we breathe.”
Of the To Do Series Stevens says “These are an ongoing series of works around the ‘To Do’ list, my ambivalence towards them, their restrictive, yet useful nature, how they are doodled on, ripped up and scribbled on and ultimately, how they mark the passage of time like diary entries, sometimes dull, sometimes thrilling, but usually somewhere in between. They are a document of how our time is spent, the actions taken to maintain, and build our lives, dreams and futures. Maybe there is a certain sort of practical magic hidden in the mundane?”
The Mickey Mouse inspired character has for Stevens “become a symbol of feeling stifled. I imagined how it must be for the human being inside the mouse costume, all that heat, the weight, the discomfort, constantly being jostled, demanded of and all anyone can see is a big grinning mouse! I would think we all can relate to this experience in some manner, feeling trapped by the roles and tasks that are inevitable in life. Perhaps these uncomfortable commonalities, these shared experiences can foster a little more kindness in our day to day dealings with each other?”
As art historian and author Jo Baring wrote in his 2021 exhibition essay “Too often we look elsewhere for love and validation, here Stevens is reminding us that everything we need is within us, that it just requires a change of perspective, an ability to look at oneself closely, in order to see that. . . . These textiles are beautiful, hand-crafted creations which guide us towards an understanding of our shared experiences as humans. They encourage us to slow down, and lead us towards a realisation that rather than being apart, we are part of something larger than ourselves. Perspective is key.”
Candida Stevens, 2023Ghost Star ( Further down the rabbit hole), 2022
Recycled fabrics, hand embroidery, acrylic 120 x 120 cm
Everything dances around you., 2022
Found textiles with hand embroidery 120 x 120 cm
Off centre, 2022
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
52 x 52 cm
Ancestor No.3, 2021
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
68 x 50 cm
Dancing Bear, 2021
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
68 x 50 cm
The parting of the waves, 2021
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
65 x 50 cm
Modern man, 2018
Mixed recycled textiles, Hand embroidery, acrylic paint
68 x 63 cm
Postcard from the edge, 2022
Assorted / recycled textiles, hand embroidery, vintage postcard, vintage magazine image, bell, envelope, permanent marker pen. 64 x 66 cm
The constant instant, 2022 26 x 20 cm
Follow your own star, 2022 27 x 20 cm
Marrow Bone, 2022 27 x 20 cm
The Warmth of the Sun # 2, 2022 27 x 20 cm
Said the spider to the fly, 2022 27 x 20 cm
Today No.1, 2022 22 x 15 cm
To Do, No.4, 2022 30 x 20 cm
To Do No.3, 2022 30 x 20 cm
To Do No.2, 2022 35 x 26 cm
Monkey See, Monkey Do, 2022 30 x 20 cm
To Do, No.5, 2022 30 x 20 cm
Shine - Decline - Sleep - Repeat, 2022
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
grid size approx. 80 x 50 cm (each piece 29 x 22 cm)
Night Bloom (Zero), 2022 29 x 22 cm
Night Bloom, Void, 2022 27 x 21 cm
Night Bloom, Sea, 2022 44 x 34 cm
Night Bloom, Sky, 2022 44 x 34 cm
Smiley No.3, 2022 37 x 30 cm
Smiley No.4, 2022 29 x 30 cm
Smiley No.1, 2022
52 x 52cm
Searching for the orange one, 2022
61 x 61 cm
‘To Do’ (Rabbit), 2022
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
42 x 33 cm
‘To
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
33 x 30 cm
‘To Do’ (Smiley), 2022
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
52 x 42 cm
Do’ (Hungry Ghost), 2022Standing into Danger, 2022
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
63 x 85 cm
Man Overboard, 2022
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
63 x 85 cm
Hand embroidery on hand stitched mixed textile collage
63 x 85 cm
Blue Peter, 2022
Anthony Stevens Exhibitions;
June 2022. Queer Frontiers Group show. ARTIQ, Walkers Court. London
September 2022. APPUNTI SU QUESTO TEMPO. Museo del Ricama e del Tessato. Valtopino. Italy
2022 Taking Flight. Group Show. Paradise Row Projects. London UK
2022 London Art Fair. Project Space. With Louisa Warfield Art Consultancy
2021 Little Landscapes. Group show. Candida Stevens Gallery. Chichester. UK 2021
2021 Kindred Spirits. Group Show. Outside In and Jerwood Collection. Harley Gallery UK 2021 Layers of Creativity. Online Group Show. Outside In. UK
2021 Our Own Reflections. Solo show. Candida Stevens Gallery. Chichester. UK 2021 London
Art Fair Edit. Platform. With Candida Stevens Gallery
2020 Isolated Observations. Group Show. Candida Stevens Gallery, Chichester. UK 2020 London Art fair 2020, Platform, Threading Forms.
2019. Super Marche 323, Group exhibition, Raw Art Foundation, Frankfurt, Germany 2019. Riot, Group exhibition, Socially Engaged Arts Salon, BMECP, Brighton UK 2019. Birds Sing Dogs Bark, Solo Show, Greenbelt Festival, Allotment Gallery, UK 2019, Heads and Tales, Group Exhibition, Vane Gallery, Newcastle, UK
2019, Hard Wired, Touring exhibition, Unpacked Arts/Outside In, Yorkshire, UK
2019. Limbo, group exhibition, Socially Engaged Arts Salon, BMECP, Brighton, UK 2018. Devonshire Made, group show, DC1 Gallery, Eastbourne, U.K
2018. +1 Joint solo exhibition, Copenhagen Outsider Art Gallery, Copenhagen
2018. Art and Liberation. Group exhibition, The Holy Biscuit Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
2018 SAID THE BIRD, Solo Exhibition, and residency , CCCA, Coventry United Kingdom 2017 Common Threads, Joint Exhibition (commissioned) House Biennial, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton
2017 Nothing Is Wasted, Solo Exhibition, Zollhauser Rodenas, Rodenas, North Germany
2017 Black Holes and Black Friday (2 but not 2) Solo Exhibition, Galerie Art Cru, Berlin 2017 Beloved, Group Exhibition, Well Being Gallery, Brighton
2017 Confronting Rape Culture, Group Exhibition, Museum of Futures, London 2017 Kd Outsider Art, Online 5th Anniversary Exhibition
2016 Skeletons Out of the Closet, Group Exhibition and workshop, De la Warr Pavilion, Bexhill
2016 Redefining Outsider Art, Online Group Exhibition, Kd Outsider Art 2016 Not Here, Group Exhibition, Radiant Gallery, Plymouth
2016 A Space Outside Your Mind, Group Exhibition, Queens Yard, London
2015 Sewing Circle, Group Exhibition, St Pancras Hospital Conference Centre
2015 ‘Being Creative is Good for You!’ Group exhibition and workshops, Well Being Gallery, Brighton
2015 ‘No Sides’. Joint Exhibition, Jilted Dog gallery, Brighton
2014 Outside In/Pallant House gallery, Brighton Art Fair ,
2014 Making Soup, Solo Exhibition, Prick Your Finger, London
2014 Process -Space Art Festival, Travelling Group Show, Historical Museum, Balchick, Bulgaria
2014 Artists United, Group Show, Foundry Gallery, Lewes UK
2014 Raw Threads, Group Exhibition and micro residency, Raw Art Foundation, Atelier Frankfurt, Frankfurt
2014 WanderLust, Group Exhibition, Atelier Frankfurt, Frankfurt
2013 Transforming Conflict, Group Show, Taplow Court, UK
Bibliography;
Davies, Kate: kdoutsiderart.com, May 2013
Coleman-Link, Lizzie: scoutkit.blogspot.com, June 2013
Little Episodes, writing exercises, Every morning there is the journey to my heart Rainaldi, Linda: Inside Outsider Art/A Canadian Perspective, September 2013 Gilbert, Jennifer: Q&A with Anthony Stevens/Outside In.org.uk
April2014 Matthews, Rachael: Anthony Stevens, Making Soup. Prickyourfinger.com/blog
May 2014 Stevens, Anthony: An Art Adventure, Outsideinpallant.wordpress.com
June 2014 Hopper, John: ‘The Work of Anthony Stevens’. thetextileblog.blogspot.com
September 2015
Juskus, Caroline: ‘Anthony Stevens’. ompomhappy.com
October 2015 Chalmers, Jamie. ‘The Cutting Edge’. Mr X Stitch, Contemporary embroidery and Needlecraft. February 2016
Deviation Street. Issue 4 2019
Here Comes Everyone. Magazine, The Classified Issue, 2019 Arte Morbida 2022
Residencies;
2018 Studio residency, The Pod/C.C.C.A, Coventry UK
2014 Studio residency, Raw Art Foundation, Frankfurt
