Welcome Leeds College of Art is proud of being one of the few remaining independent specialist art and design institutions in the UK. The College has a culture of engaging with ‘live’ external events promoting a professional and outward looking ethos amongst its students. The BA (Hons) Fine Art programme recognises that students today should be prepared intellectually, practically and professionally. This year’s graduate exhibition continues to celebrate the conflation of these qualities. Students on the programme are housed in four specialist subject strands in Fine Art so that they experience a deeper acquisition and performance of skill in their favoured media. The programme supports the development of studio practice with an emphasis on craft and skill, whilst enabling the positioning of fine art practice in terms of art history and critical thought. Students explore drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, lens – based media, installation, performance, social and public art through a series of critically positioned modules. It is in the final exhibition that we celebrate the achievement of the students’ degree. Firstly we show their work to the city of Leeds, and then we support the students in showing the work as part of ‘Free Range’, the annual art show at Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London. We celebrate the first year of their professional careers. I applaud the achievement of this year’s graduating students and warmly invite you to explore their work in both exhibitions. Sheila Gaffney Head of Fine Art
BA (HONS) FINE ART DEGREE SHOW 2014
sumexhibition.co.uk
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Alex Gilmour
Brett Walsh Private View:
Friday 13th June –5-9pm Christina Hayes
George Buckfield Opening Times: Saturday 14th June – 10am-4pm Harriet Pocock Monday 16th June – 8am-8pm Tuesday 17th June – 8am-8pm Wednesday 18th June – 8am-8pm Thursday 19th June – 8am- 5pm Joanna Simpson
Laura Day
Maxwell Harper
Niall Williams-Gordon
Rachel Halliwell
Sarah Hawkins
Amy Milwain
Callum Kirkbride
David Cleary
Georgia Deacon
Jack Fisher
Jonathan Videgrain
Luke Steele
Michael Barry
Nicholas Kidd
Rachel Page
Sofia Suleiman
Anna Pranelle
Charlotte Aston
Edward Grant
Hannah Qureshi
Jack Sorsky
Joseph Legg
Lydia Brockless
Nancy Fagan
Nick Yarroll
Richard Green
Tomas Rowell
Brendan Stokes
Charlotte van Holthe
Geoff Wharton
Hannah Wenham
Jade Long
Joseph Roberts
Maja Leszczynska
Nancy Taylor
Olga Delgado
Samuel Brickman
Vincent Todd
The seventeenth century French mathematician Blaise Pascal wrote ‘our achievements of today are but the sum total of our thoughts of yesterday. You are today where the thoughts of yesterday have brought you and you will be tomorrow where the thoughts of today take you’. To the visual artist, the achievements of today, and of tomorrow, are made material and accessible to others through individual works, which are in turn marked by the intentions of those who made them. Central to this making is the culture of the studio, which within Fine Art extends across all disciplinary approaches and functions as something close to Martin Heidegger’s ‘clearing’ or space, in which practice is allowed to show up as practice. Whatever the material inclination of the maker the practice is rooted in, and never less than, the conditions of its making. Yet in moving beyond material limitations, the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts. As a spectator it can be daunting to attempt to navigate a route through the maze-like complexity of contemporary Fine Art. As a maker the problem is magnified. In 1979, American art critic Rosalind Krauss mapped out an expanded theoretical field for sculpture in order to account for developments within recent practice. In so doing she drew from the history of modernism, from the logic of evolving forms, and from the traditional function of sculpture in the West. Today, the speed of expansion within all areas of Fine Art has outstripped the capacity of the artist, critic, or even the art historian to comfortably fence off, sub-divide or sum up the conditions and objects of practice. Meaning has become more localised, more dependent on personal and cultural narratives and on drivers outside of practice itself, to the extent that practice is now, in spirit if not in form, perhaps closer to what it once was.
Within this climate, the contemporary Fine Artist is confronted by difficulties that can become burdens— history, technology, the sheer plurality of ideas and objects. Yet in spite of this burdened condition the Fine Artist is still able, through patience, application, imagination and intelligence, to find freedom and a personal space to think beyond and behind what has been, to test material and theoretical boundaries and to draw and re-draw lines of limitation in the sand. In sum: to understand that meaning functions ‘in relation to’ what is and what has been. In the course of three years of study these young artists have met their challenges with vigour, sensitivity and humour, and in that time have striven to develop individual voices made audible along material channels of their choosing. The Fine Art programme requires students to acquire knowledge of a wide range of methods and practices, through workshops, studio development and critiques. History and theory are woven into this fabric in order to embed the notion of practice more firmly in the personal, cultural and material constituents of the discipline. Students are equipped with the tools to excavate their own field to reveal the interconnectedness of its layers. The works of the students on show here bear testament to the accumulation of thoughts and the search for creative freedom. The paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, photographs and films are evidence of separate journeys across choppy waters. Happily, all have reached the other side—to embark once again. This exhibition is, therefore, an aggregate of parts and a point of location for future engagements. A sum is both a conclusion and an acknowledgment of identity, insofar as its particulars must remain visible, knowable and discrete from other things. You will be tomorrow where the thoughts of today take you.
Tom Palin Lecturer in Fine Art and Critical Contextual Studies Leeds College of Art
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Alex Gilmour alexandergilmour.com My practice dances on the line between the physical and the digital, through work combining drawing and new media, painting and printmaking I invoke personal experiences and toy with spatialism. Whilst using humour and irony, I strive to find a method of authentic, articulate communication.
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Amy Milwain amymilwain.wordpress.com As an artist immersed in popular culture and media I appropriate iconic cartoon characters, subtly altering and reproducing images. I look to embrace and also critique sexuality as perceived by modern society. By using traditional drawing methods within my practice I communicate my obsession to distort the familiar, incorporating a comedic aspect.
My practice emerges from ideas surrounding environmentalism, sustainability and human detachment from nature. Organic materials are present in my work to create living, changing sculptures. I explore process and time by using ephemeral subject matter, as well as challenging current ecological issues.
annaprenelle.co.uk
Anna Prenelle
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Brendan Stokes brendanstokes.brushd.com Within my practice the body is a site for theoretical and practical experimentation through which I grow abject creations which reference rather than depict their original selves. As a sculptor I engage with a juxtaposition of contemporary materials and traditional subject matters through exploring, representing and distorting the human body.
Forty words, thirty eight now, now thirty four, this simply can’t go on. Twenty seven - it’s just unreasonable, unfair even. Twenty words, this is meagre and I must not be verbose. Nine remaining. Wait, seven is plenty to say - damn.
brettwalsh.wix.com/bwsb
Brett Walsh
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The work examines representation, using the nude human form as a comparative framework to explore the methods through which meaning is encoded within the image. These images are pieces of research in an ongoing study of the allegorical processes and versions present in past and contemporary art practice.
callumjohnkirkbride.co.uk
Callum Kirkbride
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Charlotte Aston caston3.wix.com/charlotteastonart Artists such as Rothko and Turner have inspired and driven me to create landscapes which express something more than beauty, I have been questioning the idea of the sublime within landscape painting. I have experimented with photography and paint in my deconstruction and enhancement of landscapes, to create a different aesthetic experience for audiences.
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Charlotte van Holthe charlottevanholthe.wordpress.com My work evolves from the act of painting itself, focusing primarily on colour and composition. More recently I have begun to cross into the boundaries of painting and sculpture, I experiment with the presentation of completed works, and their importance.Â
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Christina Hayes christinahayesfineart.wordpress.com I use coding, sign and unconstructable text to lead the viewer to consider whether the communication of the language is significantly necessary? Or is it to challenge the viewer’s preconceptions to the use and understanding of text presented in other artworks?
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David Cleary davidcleary.co.uk Through the use of photo-collage to create artificial compositions, the work connotes to abject themes which heavily lean toward the perverse and the erotic. By shifting the image into the framework of figurative painting, the audience is confronted with pornographic content which is validated because of its clear recognition within an artistic context.
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Edward Grant eddyism588.wordpress.com My interests lie in our innate ability to understand and want to understand everything in our own way. Through experimentation I can begin to see links between ourselves, the material and the spiritual world.
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Geoff Wharton geoffwharton.weebly.com Studying at Leeds College of Art has been a great experience for me as a Fine Artist. It has taught me valuable skills and techniques I can apply in my practice alongside giving me the chance to meet new friends and prepare for the future.
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George Buckfield cargocollective.com/georgebuckfield I vie to merge experience and technological processes. I use an eclectic range of processes and tools to present ideas of time manipulation. I allow for the partaking of the viewer. The process is set up by me, but the content and direction of the work is completely up to the viewer. The parallel between film, sound and design have all become important features, allowing for an eclectic body of work.
Rescuing the dying skill of craft is an important aspect of my work. I question whether words, ideas and philosophising are partly responsible for the erosion of craft. I am inspired by women’s progressive ability in the face of challenges, reflecting in crafted objects that engage with notions of materiality.
georgiadeacon91.wordpress.com
Georgia Deacon
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Hannah Qureshi I don’t expect anyone who views my work to understand it fully. In my work I like to think it is more of an eye opener, one to get people thinking. I don’t even expect people to agree or like it, but knowing I could have possible changed one person’s perception on my issues I have raised is adequate.
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Hannah Wenham hannahwenham.wordpress.com My practice is a multi-media investigation into the experience of light and space within an environment. I am also concerned with how the body autonomously perceives and reacts to the artwork and the role it consequently plays in the experience of the work.
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Harriet Pocock cargocollective.com/hattypocock My practice stems from personal memories, both past and present. Printmaking is the primary medium, with strong focus on colour and layering, using a lighthearted and humorous approach to create a visual story.
(Creator ≥ Machine) outputs a stream of fresh content. [I = O] 1x0=0 0+1=1 1/0=∞ Data = ∞
If everything is disposable then the artist’s studio becomes portable.
Temporary experiences transform the current economic materialism.
(Resources / Population) ≠ ∞ If {Object ≠ Image}; Efficiency ≥ Effectiveness
∞+1=∞ ∞+∞=∞ ∞-1=∞
jack-fisher.eu
Jack Fisher
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Jack Sorsky To avoid gratifying the educational system as “scholarship about scholarship and not scholarship”, I’d like to leave with the following: “Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.” - Charles Bukowski And of course my personal favourite: “I don’t like defining myself. I just am.” - Britney Spears
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Jade Long jademichellelong.wix.com/fineart My practice focuses primarily on emotional attachments to object. Through casting artefacts which are associated as memory-objects, I transform the originals into uncanny replicas which suggest the mutability of memory. My work is underpinned by personal experiences of childhood and subjective relationships to place.
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Joanna Simpson joannadont.tumblr.com I want my practice to entertain anyone who is willing to peer through the keyhole. It doesn’t matter if they only have 10p to their name or a million quid, as it’s all about the humour that can be found in the day to day.
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Jonathan Videgrain jvidegrain.wix.com/jonathanvidegrain I am concerned with interrogating the rigidity of gender signs and the borders between art forms within contemporary culture. My practice is inclusive of – but not restricted to – the use of dress, as defined as: ‘an assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body.’ (1992, Eicher, J.B. and Roach-Higgins, M.E.). Fabulous, Darling.
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Joseph Legg josephlegg.com Previously studying Biology, I view the world from a variety of perspectives, forming a curious hybrid of Art, Science, Design and Technology. Envisioned in exhibition spaces and beyond, my work is a juxtaposition of form/function, fact/fiction, virtual/real, physical/metaphysical. I test the relationship between an external world and our internal experiences of it.
Art presents a forum for debate and a space for the reification of ideas. Through sculpture I seek to open discourses on the contemporary British quotidian experience, addressing concerns of labour, marginalisation, alienation and the socio-cultural effects of politics.
joseph-roberts.co.uk
Joseph Roberts
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Laura Day lauradayfineart.wordpress.com My practice as an artist refers to women and the difficulties they face within today’s society. By focusing on the human form I am challenging myself as an artist to look at what is acceptable and what is not. My work is highly conceptual and I use personal experiences to not only define my work but to give it life and substance.
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Luke Steele A lawn is an interaction between the natural environment and the constructed. A lawn is often referred to as a place of worship. The phosphor creates energy once charged—absorbing light to emulate its hidden visual qualities. I strive for the ideal, a painting visually virgin of hand, removed from any sign of physical human interaction. Without method comes confusion. Once a method is grasped, refining takes place, and from that comes order.
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Lydia Brockless lydiabrocklessartist.wordpress.com Physicality, mutability of the body, fertility, femininity, sexuality. Relationships between materials, history of materials, interplay between hard and soft, round and flat, textural conversations and tactile surfaces. Time as non-linear, endless cycles of making and meaning.
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Maja Leszczynska maja1991.wordpress.com My art works constitute a world in themselves, their own artistic reality, which is nevertheless always based on the real world. They occupy mental spaces consisting of different moods and psychological states of mind which I achieve through the usage of colour, light and space as well as the richness of textures.Â
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Maxwell Harper cargocollective.com/maxwellharper Image making allows me to develop ways in which to interrelate my emotions and values as well as influences from the outside world. Photography, print and painting perform as tools for political exploration and expression. They give me a platform to question and dissect contemporary issues surrounding class and society.
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Michael Barry michaelbarry.eu My practice aims to make the viewer contemplate their relationship with consumption. I use identifiable commodities and experiment with display conventions that have been established by the practice of visual merchandising.
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Nancy Fagan nancyfagan.wordpress.com Within my work I explore a variety of themes and respond to my research through the use of different materials and techniques. Through colour, shape, material and scale, I express my ideas and bring them together in the form of abstract paintings.
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Nancy Taylor nancylouisetaylor.com Driven by an exploration of self and third wave feminism, I explore the psychoanalysis of human interaction to explore reasons behind current social political issues. By revealing an exaggerated opinion of the world, my work informs a feminist dystopian perception of domesticated objects through editing and distorting household items.
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Niall Williams-Gordon cargocollective.com/Niallycat My work strives to find an equilibrium between craft and concept, infusing personal experiences with hand making craft methods.
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Nicholas Kidd cargocollective.com/nicholaskidd Through my experimentation with colour and form, I aim to take the viewer beyond the confinements of an art space. My work tends to draw upon themes from my childhood and use them to challenge participation and social spaces.
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Nick Yarroll cargocollective.com/nickyarroll I take influence from the legacies of modernism, Russian Constructivism and the Bauhaus. My work considers themes such as: position, structure and shape, It is also greatly influenced by materiality using industrial materials and giving them new artistic expression.
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Olga Delgado olgadelgadoart.wordpress.com My practice shows a concern with the formal and aesthetic qualities of materials, specifically latex. By combining aspects of different fine art practices I look to produce sculptural drawings in a space, juxtaposing the use of organic and man-made materials. My work demonstrates an integral desire to exploit the natural characteristics of materials.
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Rachel Halliwell rachelhalliwell341.wordpress.com The focus within my practice is the application and layering of paint. I remove tiny elements to allow the underlying painting to surface. The manner in which I paint is fast and aggressive allowing mistakes to be visible, which makes the painting become more real to its viewers.Â
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Rachel Page rachelpage.brushd.com Relationships between soft and hard, heavy and lightweight and that of fragile and tactile surfaces are formed and bought together through continuous material investigations. I use familiar, recognisable, disposable objects and materials but place them in an unfamiliar environment.
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Richard Green richardfranklingreen.co.uk Repetition, rhythm, flow, tension, weight, volume, space, time, beginning-less, end-less, minimal, materiality, transience, performative, sculpture, industrial, movement, order, cycles, replacement, constant, sensual, pensive, attraction, mundane, absurd, tragic, Keaton-esque, amusing, frivolous, aimless, eccentric, systematic experiment, production, subversion, intensifying, aggressive, Erratic, repulsion, ephemeral, threatening, self-destruction, inevitability, thrashing, failure, static, decay.Â
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Samuel Brickman brettwalsh.wix.com/bwsb I’ll miss staying up all night.
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Sarah Hawkins sarahlouisehawkins.brushd.com My work examines and comments on contemporary British society, focusing predominantly on workingclass people and their lives. The work is underpinned and informed by my own family history, heritage and personal experiences. My concerns are explored through sculptural forms and installations which consist of the restaging, reimagining and reworking of everyday objects and imagery.
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Sofia Suleiman sofiasuleiman.wordpress.com My practice began with looking at my own identity in different environments, It then progressed to delving into identity as a whole in general. Questioning the meaning behind my own mixed heritage and how that makes up my identity; I use expressive paint application, colour and paint spacing, to cites this concept.
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Tomas Rowell tomasrowell.co.uk Within my practice, there is a conscious effort to confront the physical qualities of painting over any external embodiment through experimentation in colour, scale, form and structural principle. I begin to challenge the viewer’s perception of such notions within abstract painting, as the process of painting acts as a self-reflection.
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Vincent Todd vincenttodd244.wix.com/fineart My practice stems from reading of theorists such as Barthes (Camera Lucida), Benjamin (A Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction) and Sontag(On Photography), my practice looks at the photograph as material and as an object. I direct digital imagery through analogue process to synthesize sculptural material.
Opening Times: Saturday 14th June – 10am-4pm Monday 16th June – 8am-8pm Tuesday 17th June – 8am-8pm Wednesday 18th June – 8am-8pm Thursday 19th June – 8am- 5pm
Private View: Friday 13th June –5-9pm
Touring to: Free Range - Graduate Art Show 2014
Exhibition Open: 27 Jun Friday, 10:00 - 19:00 28 Jun Saturday, 10:00 - 19:00 29 Jun Sunday, 10:00 - 19:00 30 Jun Monday, 10:00 - 16:00
Private View: 26 Jun Thursday, 18:00 - 22:00
Admission Free The Old Truman Brewery 91 Brick Lane London E1 6QL www.free-range.org.uk
Graduate Fellows:
Georgia Lucas-Going Callum Patterson Abi Moffatt
Yearbook Editorial:
Hannah Wenham Olga Peragon Delgado Christina Hayes Rachel Page Joanna Simpson Brendan Stokes
Head of Fine Art:
Sheila Gaffney
Fine Art Staff:
Kelly Cumberland Sarah Taylor Dan Robinson Tom Palin Garry Barker Mark Dunn Duncan Mosley Richard Baker
Bonnie Rowntree, Isobel Moore
Photography:
David Gaskell, Joel Burden, Ross Francis
Design + Art Direction:
Thank You.
Luca Calabrese
3-D Modeling +Animation:
BA (Hons) Fine Art scott.crosby@leeds-art.ac.uk 0113 202 8283
Leeds College of Art, Blenheim Walk, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS2 9AQ 0113 202 8000
Contact: