SUSAN STOCKWELL b. 1962, United Kingdom
Colonial Dress Paper maps Lifesize 2008 House of European History Collection, Brussels
Territory Dress Paper maps Lifesize 2018 Tropenmuseum Collection, Amsterdam
Territory Dress (detail)
Commissioned by the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam for their collection, Territory Dress is concerned with colonial and social histories, mapping the female body and claiming female territory. It draws inspiration from the Tropenmuseum’s collections and other Dutch ethnographic museums and directly refers to Dutch colonial history. The frills and folds of paper maps and map printed cloth make reference to the coveted colonies spanning the globe. The train creates a kind of movement, as if passing through time, pulling the weight of a brutal past whilst the hollow of the stomach questions the origins of bodily and national proprietary. This life size Dress Sculpture was accessioned into their collection in December 2019 and has been exhibited in the museum’s New Acquisitions exhibition until March 2020 and will subsequently be shown in 2021 the Our Heritages exhibition.
Excerpt from the article “Von allem das Beste”, by Handelsblatt, ©Stefan Kobel, 2020 Review of TEFAF 2020 “Ein Kleid aus Geld mag auf Anhieb eine anschauliche Metapher darstellen für The European Fine Art Fair, kurz „Tefaf“. Wird die Spitzenmesse in Maastricht doch oft „Königin der Kunstmessen“ genannt. Doch das „Money Dress“ von Susan Stockwell bei Patrick Heide aus London steht für mehr. Das der Garderobe einer der wenigen Naturforscherinnen des 19. Jahrhunderts nachempfundene Kunstwerk symbolisiert auch das Bemühen der altehrwürdigen Veranstaltung, den Geschmackswandel und die sich ändernden Sammelgewohnheiten eines global gewordenen Reichtums abzubilden. Mit einem Preis von 48 000 Euro rangiert die bereits mit musealen Weihen versehene Arbeit hier tatsächlich noch in der Einsteigerregion …” "The dress made of money may immediately be a vivid metaphor for "The European Fine Art Fair”. The top fair in Maastricht is often called the "Queen of Art Fairs". But the "Money Dress" by Susan Stockwell at Patrick Heide from London stands for more. The work of art, modelled on the wardrobe of one of the few naturalists of the 19th century, also symbolises the effort of the time-honoured event to reflect the change in taste and the changing collection habits of a wealth that has become global. With a price of 48,000 euros, Stockwell's work, which has already been given a museum consecration, actually still ranks here in the entry-level region..."
Money Dress International currency notes, cotton thread, canvas & mannequin frame 160 x 80 x 60 cm 2010 ÂŁ 40,000.00 plus VAT
Africa Chinese Yuan currency notes & cotton thread 65 x 74 x 3.5 cm, framed 2012 Edition of 5 + 1 AP ÂŁ 4,500.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
America: An Imperial State Chinese Yuan currency notes & cotton thread 63 x 82 x 5 cm, framed 2010 Edition of 5 + 1 AP ÂŁ 4,500.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
Old Money One-Pound notes & cotton threads 61 x 32 cm Edition of 5 + 1 AP 2011 £ 4,500.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
“Found or previously used objects and materials such as maps, money and embroideries are important for Stockwell’s artistic practice. Rarely fictional and constructed, her works reflect true events and are often evidence of their political and cultural colonisation. By transforming and reconfiguring these supercharged materials and objects, Stockwell indicates a possible re-writing of history. This is amongst others evident in a body of work made from old silk bobbins and thread. Stockwell subtly interrogates the value of these items, their travels from various places and their historical significance, tracing them back to the colonial trade. In processing them into sculptural installations she merges the cruelty of a historical event with the beauty of an abstracted piece of art.�
Sweet Plums Wooden silk bobbins, wool, thread and elastic approx. 350 x 200 x 11 cm 2015 Installation view at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art Price on request
Blood Lines Wooden silk bobbins, wool, thread and elastic 55.5 x 75.5 x 10.4 cm 2015 ÂŁ 7,000.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
Fast Fashion Cotton bobbins, shopping trolley 100 x 89 x 49 cm 2019 Price on request
Susan Stockwell’s site-specific installations and sculptures are calm and powerful gestures, deeply researched and often subtly socio-political. Recurring themes evolve around identity, global histories, migration and humanity’s social condition. The materials in Stockwell’s sculptural installations are often found objects, domestic or manufacturing products. Their inherent and past content, their transformation and appropriation, always reinforce and intelligently reflect Stockwell’s topical approach. Hundreds of cotton bobbins from a working mill near Manchester relate “Fast Fashion” to industrial histories and colonial trade; piled into a shopping cart it poignantly comments on the collateral damage of our consumer society. At a point in history when trade, consumption and pollution have momentarily slowed down due to a pandemic, the message of “Fast Fashion”, linked to the destructive behaviours we seem to perpetuate, resounds even stronger while expressing a desire for change and regeneration.
Jerusalem-Br-Exit Knitted wool and dressmaking pins 118 x 40 x 10 cm 2018 ÂŁ 6,000.00 + VAT
Painted into a corner......British art responds to the folly of Brexit, 1 March 2019, by The Guardian, © Jonathan Jones 2019 Excerpt from the review of the exhibition "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art is not a homage to the Clash song but an urgent personal question for Europeans living in Britain. And for some Britons, too. Gallerist Heide admits it’s one he asks himself. Like many artists and art professionals in London, he is from continental Europe – in his case Frankfurt – and his exhibition reflects the wretched sense that everything is going to be different, that Britain is shrinking. Susan Stockwell’s green woollen map of Britain shows this most succinctly. Scotland looks proper and correct, yet Brexit-voting England and Wales are collapsing in a shapeless mess. Brexit is not strengthening national identity in this acidic knit but melting this sceptred isle........"
Installation view at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art
Pound of Flesh (Venice) Handkerchiefs, coffee, embroidery thread 28 x 27 x 3 cm, framed 2015 £ 3,500.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
Tributary (Stratford Upon Avon) Handkerchiefs, coffee, embroidery thread 28 x 27 x 3 cm, framed 2015 £ 3,500.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
Bear Pitt (London) Handkerchiefs, coffee, embroidery thread 28 x 27 x 3 cm, framed 2015 £ 3,500.00 plus VAT, incl. frame
Susan Stockwel’s residency at the Royal Shakespeare Company resulted in the exhibition Sea-Markings at the theatre’s exhibition space and included a three story spanning site-specific installation of “Sail-Painting” in the theatre’s atrium. The pieces were partly inspired by Shakespeare’s plays, Othello and The Merchant of Venice. Stockwell again plays with questions of trade, material, power and social condition. Used handkerchiefs are stained with coffee and embroidered with images drawn from 16th century maps of London, Stratford and Venice. "Sail Painting" was also presented at the gallery, where it engaged the viewer physically by obstructing the way into the gallery space. As if walking through a three-dimensional abstract painting the installation forced the viewer to navigate their own course and to reflect upon the world.
Installation view at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art
To Die Upon a Kiss Quilt of coffee stained and embroidered handkerchiefs 97 cm x 120 cm 2015 ÂŁ 12,000.00 plus VAT
Installation view at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art
Motherland Britain Recycled computer components 23 x 13 x 2 cm 2012 ÂŁ 2,800.00 plus VAT
Africa Recycled computer components 29 x 24 x 2 cm 2012 £ 3,500.00 plus VAT
America Recycled computer components 31 x 19 x 2 cm 2012 £ 3,500.00 plus VAT
America Upcycled computer components 300 x 250 cm 2018 Courtesy of TAG Fine Arts BlackRock Investments Collection, New York
"Though a true Londoner, Su was introduced to me by NY artist Sharon Louden. Susan has since become a central position in the program, despite and I assume also because many of her projects are so courageous that they are more suited for institutional spaces and exhibitions. What I admire most about Susan’s work and her approach is her integrity. Susan tackles very diverse and controversial contemporary topics such as gender issues, wounds of the colonial past, immigration and civil liberties, yet manages to remain sincere and balanced in her approach, even fair. Susan’s choice of medium and process is usually complex and carefully considered, often historically charged; the message is always calm and powerful." (Patrick Heide)
World’s maps Globes, paper maps, shopping trolley 120 x 92 x50 cm 2020 Price on request
SUSAN STOCKWELL Born in Manchester, 1962, United Kingdom Lives and works in London, UK Education 1985-88 1991-93
B.A. (Hon’s) Sculpture, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield M.A. Sculpture, The Royal College of Art, London
Selected Solo Exhibitions 2020 2019 2019 2015 2013 2010 2009 2008
2006 2005-00
Territory Dress - New Acquisitions, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam Trade Winds, St. Paul Church, Cambridge Should I Stay or Should I Go, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art Sea Markings, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon Sail Away, Installation Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London Silver Thread of Empire, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London Flood, Site-specific Installation, York St Mary's Church, York Vulnerable Ecologies, Art league, Houston, Texas Mapping the Body, The Florence Nightingale Museum, St Thomas’s Hospital, London Paper Tiger, Canary Wharf, One Canada Square, London Line Drawing, British Trade and Cultural Office, Taipei Taiwan B-side Ecology, The HONG Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan Paper Trail, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London Paper, Steel, Paper, 20/21 Visual Art Centre, Scunthorpe This and That, Shenghua Art Centre, Nanjing, China Stitched-up: Paper and Politics, Studio Caparrelli. London Text and Work, The Art Institute, Bournemouth Susan Stockwell Selected Works, The V&A Museum, London Material Accomplices, Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, Texas Accumulations, Thomas Korzelius Fine Art, New York & The Economist Plaza Gallery, London Embedded, BAC, London. Angel Row, Nottingham; Wrexham, Wales
Selected Group Exhibitions 2020 2019
2018
2017 2016
2015 2016-14 2014
Politics in Art The Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCAK, Krakow Complex States: Art in the Years of Brexit, Gallery 46, London The Sea is the Limit, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Doha Exchange, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth Parallel Lines: Sculpture and Drawing, Royal Society of Sculptors, London Should I Stay or Should I Go? Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London Across Boundaries, Draiflessen Collection, Mettingen Cartography, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Here East, London The Sea is the Limit, York Art Gallery, York No Man is an Island, Künstlerforum, Bonn Created in Conflict: British Soldiers from the Crimea War to Today, Compton Verney, Warwickshire Boîte-en-Valise: Generator, Venice Islands curator Rachael Arauz. Private collection of Frank Williams, Wellesley The sea is the limit, Patrick Heide Contremporary Art, London If you lived Here You’d Be Home, The Children’s Museum of Arts, New York Trade Winds Hall Place & Gardens, Bexley Ffolio, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Torfaen, Wales Geographies, Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan Peace Maker, National Army Museum and touring six Regimental Museums, London & UK Mind the Map, Gallerie F15, Moss, Norway
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009 2008
2007
2000-06
Love Me Tender, Belleview Arts Museum, Seattle, Washington Meridien, Tryon Street Gallery, London Couriers of Taste, Danson House, Bexley Heath, London Lets Get It On, The Usher Gallery, Lincoln Mappamundi Touring, Hotel Des Artes, Toulon, France The First Cut, Touring Djanogly, Nottingham & Southampton Museums Mind the Map, London Transport, Museum Olympics Exhibition, London The First Cut, Manchester City Art Gallery & Platt Hall Contemporary Interventions, York City Art Gallery All Stitched-Up, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London The London Art Fair, TAG Fine Art, London, Get Carta, Karin Jenssen Project Space, London Mappamundi, The Berardo Museum Foundation, Lisbon All Stitched-Up, The Florence Nightingale Museum, London A-to-Z, The University of East London, AVA Gallery, London Sofia Biennale, National Art Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria Heartlands, Great Brampton House. Hay-On-Wye The Art of Mapping, TAG Fine Arts, The Air Gallery, London, Quilts 1700-2010, V&A Museum, London Creative Compass, Royal Geographic Society, London Who’s Map is it? New mapping by artists, INIVA, London Mapping: Memory and Motion in Contemporary Art, The Katonah Museum of Art, New York Here and Again, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London Miami Pulse Art Fair, Miami, with Patrick Heide Contemporary Art The Big Deal, London Dress Codes, The Katonah Museum of Art, New York Paper: torn twisted cut, Peel Gallery, Houston, Texas Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London Beijing Biennale 2008, Beijing, China Book: book–inspired artwork, London print studio gallery, London Miami Scope Art Fair, Miami, with Patrick Heide Contemporary Art Mapping the Imagination, Victoria and Albert Museum, London On the Map, Sheffield Millennium Galleries, Sheffield Body Space, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle Citylogue, Taipei Artist’s Village Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan Miami Art Fair, Miami, with Patrick Heide Contemporary Art Blind Memories, 198 Gallery, London Conversations, Ambrosino Gallery, Miami The Biggest Draw, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield The Map is Not The Territory, England and Co, London Bursary 2002, The Royal Society of British Sculptors, London Here and Again, Artists Interventions at the Aldrich Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut Paper Spaces, The Neuberger Museum of Art, New York, USA
Collections The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK The London Transport Museum, London, UK The National Army Museum, London, UK Tropenmuseum, Amsterdan, Netherlands The Museum of European History, Brusels, Belgium Black Rock Investments, New York, USA; Edinburgh and London, UK Yale Centre for British Art, Yale New Haven, USA Pallant House Gallery. Chichester UK The African National Party, Johannesburg, South Africa Binghamton Art Museum, Binghamton, New York, USA The Florence Nightingale Museum, London, UK Francis H. Williams Collection, Wellesley, USA Karol Vail Collection, New York City, USA Christopher Erck Collection, Texas, USA British Trade and Culture Office, Taipei, Taiwan Studio Caparrelli, London, UK Shenghua Art Centre, Nanjing, China Seeds of Peace Charity, USA Alireza Collection, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia