Folding and Unfolding Time
Folding and Unfolding Time curated by
Neil Irons
16th -18th June 2017
Artworks Project Space Barbican Arts Group Trust Blackhorse Lane Studios
114 Blackhorse Lane London E17 6AA
Blackhorse Lane Studio Artists Franki Austin Anja Borowicz Julie Caves Francesco de Manincor Elizabeth de Monchaux Wendy D’Souza-Daniels Tania Denton Pauline Evans Charlotte Gerrard Jonet Harley-Peters Asger Harbou Gjerdevik Adam Hennessey Charlotte Hodes Neil Irons Tam Joseph Matthew Krishanu Valerie Large Helen Maurer Katrin Mäurich Lucile Montague Jean-Pierre Mas Benjamin Parker Michelle Reader Daniela Rizzi William Stok Sandie M Sutton Barry Sykes Emma Talbot
An exploration of how visual artists use memory as a tool for their work.
‘Memory is the real name of the relation to oneself, or the affect on self by self. According to Kant, time was the form in which the mind affected itself, just as space was the form in which the mind was affected by something else: time was therefore “auto-affection” and made up the essential structure of subjectivity. But time as subject or rather subjectivation, is called memory. Not that brief memory that comes afterwards and is the opposite of forgetting, but the “absolute memory” which doubles the present and the outside and is one with forgetting, since it is endlessly forgotten and reconstituted: its fold, in fact, merges with the unfolding, because the latter remains present within the former as the thing that is folded. Only forgetting (the unfolding) recovers what is folded in memory(and in the fold itself).’ Foucault by Gilles Deleuze – Foldings, or the inside of thought(subjectivation)
Memory has many forms and uses for an artist. From straight forward documentation to produce future memories - to the reframing of history to challenge our collective memory there is a surprising amount of ways in which memory informs the work and methodology of artists. Realising this I kept the brief as wide open as possible when I asked the artists at Blackhorse Lane Studios for a piece for this show I simply asked for something to do with memory and waited to see what the responses would be. The work shown here then ranges from memories of a very personal nature, to memories of the collective type, to frozen moments of time, to projected futures, the physical act of remembering or forgetting, the memory of non-existent forms, memories of lost artworks, memories of art history and artworks created as the physical embodiment of a memory. The show itself is on for such a short time that it too will quickly become a memory. Neil Irons 2017
Folding and Unfolding Time
Grandmother Clock monoprint 24 x 32.5 cm ÂŁ55
Franki Austin
My monoprint is based on my grandmother’s tall clock. Always reliable, it ticked away the seconds of my childhood. It stood in her small hallway, the meeting place of staircase, kitchen, living room and her main door leading to the outside world. It rang out on the stroke of every hour. My father loved his mother’s clock and took it into his house when she died. I don’t know where the clock is now, but wherever it is i find it comforting to think of it still ticking loudly, counting out the seconds.
Of Skyhooks & Cranes Lithograph on paper with ink drawing Limited edition print 1/12 50 x 70 cm ÂŁ100
Anja Borowicz
The situation reveals itself momentarily, fleetingly but long enough to arouse the interest. The image remains buried under the eyelids, pausing on pixels that trigger associations, imaginations and imaginings. The unchoreographed body frozen in a tableau. Neon uniform as a work-tool, unifying and objectifying, more functional than aesthetic. Working gesture (per)forming a spatial diagram, amplified through the relationship to other gestures, awakening the memory of other acts, accumulating and looping beyond itself. Bodies that become subjects/objects that/of labour. Slowed downed, slow motion. Sudden awareness of temporal dimension. Transitional space of labour, transitional space of viewing...
That Summer Holiday Oil and acrylic on canvas 50 x 20cm 2017 £300
Julie Caves
Remember that summer holiday, you know, the one where we met those nice people. No, you know what I mean, the time we saw that amazing waterfall. Wait, maybe it was a pond, but the forest was amazing. Well anyway, I just remember lots of nature and it was so relaxing.
MOAB LOAF Cardboard, markers 50 x 33 cm £200
Francesco de Manincor
Things are becoming increasingly polarised: intolerance and divisions among peoples and entire groups are growing. War and terrorism are big business. Consensus is being manipulated and manufactured, so more than ever it’s important not to forget what has happened in the world in the last century. MOAB LOAF is part of a series of triptychs that I’m creating with poor materials like cardboard and markers, filtering socio-political and media events through the subconscious and the daily bombardment of images/info/data.
Untitled (family portrait) Installation Steel Dimensions vary. Price on application.
Elizabeth de Monchaux
Trying to capture the change in height of my children as they grow and how tall they are in relation to their father and me. This installation captures 17 years of growth.
The Things We Touch mixed media 2017 image size 36cms x 48cms. framed 50cms x 70cms £400
Wendy D’Souza-Daniels
This work, through extracts explores part of an installation by me, which itself is an allegory of a personal journey through life. The narrative presented is a combination of reflections and memories from the past and present with empty spaces for those experiences yet to come. As such it is an unfolding “portrait� of poignant and significant moments.
Trapped (5) oil on canvas 60x50cm 2016 ÂŁ870
Tania Denton
Denton deliberately chooses titles for her pieces that reference their roots, and also the multiple historical uses of the space, employing word play and double entendre to encourage us to search for a variety of meanings. The fact that these spaces are devoid of figures encourages us to inscribe ourselves into them, to allow ourselves to become enveloped by the swirls of light and dark, and to be carried along the pathways and hollows of the artist’s impression of these territories.
Parrots charcoal and chalk drawing on paper 62 x 87cm ÂŁ225
Pauline Evans
Pack Monday fair was one of the few occasions that my mother collected us from school. Being accompanied by an adult increased the likelihood that you would be waylaid by a photographer carrying parrots or monkeys which clambered onto passing children. Once my mother had paid a fee, the animals disentangled themselves from us and a couple of weeks later we would receive black and white snapshots. I no longer have the photo of my sister and I holding two large parrots, but I can remember the warmth and weight of these creatures, the sharp beaks and firm grip.
Moment of Memory - IV Photo construction pigment paper and hardboard 78 x 38cm ÂŁ325
Jonet Harley-Peters
This is a study completed in preparation for a piece of work commissioned by ‘Paintings in Hospitals’ and funded by ‘the Bridge Fund. ‘ The commission was based on a six day residency in a care home, where I ran workshops with elderly residents diagnosed with Dementia. I started to use photography, initially to record events but soon found that the residents responded particularly well to the feel, touch and smell of the fresh flowers I took in every day, and so hands holding flowers became the theme of the workshops, invoking memory and remembrance. This piece of work was completed after the event, using the photographs taken during the workshops.
Poppies monoprint and drypoint. Size 73 x 55cm framed
Charlotte Gerard
A monoprint, as the name implies, is the creation of a single impression as the ink does not penetrate the plate and therefore creates a one-off unique print. The characteristic of this method is that no two prints are alike. The beauty of this medium is also in its spontaneity and its combination of printmaking, painting and drawing media. This work is a combination of a ‘drypoint’ (a technique of intaglio engraving with a hard steel needle, without acid, on a copper plate) and a monoprint. I often use poppies in an abstract form throughout this work as I love the vibrancy of the reds mixed with the dark moody skies and textured marshes hence creating a subtle and delicate image which still retains it’s intensity and vibrancy. during the workshops
Land of Milk and Honey materials: mixed materials 30 x 35 x 20cm ÂŁ500
Asger Harbou Gjerdevik
It relates to the memory of the dream of a utopia. In the Land of Milk & Honey, your desires will come true, in your mind it’s a paradise, but maybe it’s just an illusion. It’s also influenced by some of the futuristic buildings made during the world fair in New York in the late 1930’s, were optimism and the search of a brighter future were the main goal. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/National_Cash_Register_Building.jpg
Obstacles acrylic on paper 70 x 50 cm 2016 £800
Adam Hennessey
The painting ‘Obstacles’ is a reimagined view of a walled in alleyway near my work where I nearly got mugged. Imagine tripping and slipping your way through this obstacle course. Falling over the hurdle, bumping the traffic cone and disappearing down the crack.
Prologue for And you, Helen paper cut 112 x 45cm 2014 ÂŁ980
Charlotte Hodes
This papercut, from a series, is the outcome of a collaborative project between Charlotte Hodes and poet Deryn Rees-Jones in which Charlotte responded to Deryn’s 12-part poem, a poetic reimagining of Helen Thomas, widow of World War I poet Edward Thomas. The poem explores notions of loss and redemption, and poetic preoccupations with constructions of a female self, and our relation to the female body. The Thomas family, and the family of the American poet Robert Frost, summered in nearby in houses across the fields from each other in Herefordshire. Thomas and Frost walked the surrounding Malvern Hills and countryside, and it was during this time that Thomas worked out his vision for poetry.
Hopeful Times 0il on wood 30 x 22cm 2017 ÂŁ500
Neil Irons
Frankie would come every day, rain or shine all year long including Christmas day. In the summer, there’d be long queues of excited kids and mums with prams. In the dark evenings of the autumn and winter we were already made to come inside by the time Frankie turned up. We would stare out of the window hoping someone else would be allowed out to the van – then we could say -” but look mum - Brian is out there” …. They were hopeful times.
Rough Sleeper wooden armature, chicken wire, earth, grass and flower seeds, builder’s refuse bags 2017 poa
Tam Joseph
I first visited New York in 1973, the year that my son Chukuma was born, New York seemed OK at the time, the so called ‘No Go’ areas were non problematic for me, I guess that my face fitted in the hard run down areas of Brooklyn and Harlem. I went to New York again 41 years later in 2014; some things had changed following Mayor Giuliani’s’ ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy in the early 1980’s. The Lower East side had become ‘gentrified and was now a ‘thriving bustling area’ and Washington Square was ‘Safe’. But one thing that had remained unchanged was the numbers of Black males displaying evident mental health issues, who were sleeping rough on park benches in Washington Square and here n’ there on the pavements of New York. I have been observing the same growing trend on the streets of London since 1973 but it is more of ‘Rainbow Coalition’ of Men, Women African Caribbeans, Drug abusers & Eastern Europeans.
Mission School oil on canvas 60 x 50cm 2016 £1350
Matthew Krishanu
Mission School depicts a small group of children staring at a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. It is based on memories of growing up in Dhaka, Bangladesh in a Christian community. European art history was used as a religious teaching tool. A print of The Last Supper also hung above my bed.
Layers paper, card, conte crayon, coloured pencil 25 x 25 x 4cm ÂŁ80
Valerie Large
Memories can be re-visited time and again but are they ever the same? Each piece of paper has a different torn edge, layered together, layers of memory or one memory remembered slightly differently each time.
The House board, glass 18 x 14 x 3.5 cm
Helen Maurer
When I was making this I was reading Marianne Dreams a children’s fantasy novel by Catherine Storr. Marianne is a young girl who is bedridden with a long-term illness. She draws a picture of a house to fill her time, and finds that she spends her dreams within the picture she has drawn. Here, the glass creates the illusion of a three- dimentional space from a simple line drawing. I think I’m interested in giving form to things that aren’t really there.
The House board, glass 18 x 14 x 3.5 cm
Helen Maurer
When I was making this I was reading Marianne Dreams a children’s fantasy novel by Catherine Storr. Marianne is a young girl who is bedridden with a long-term illness. She draws a picture of a house to fill her time, and finds that she spends her dreams within the picture she has drawn. Here, the glass creates the illusion of a three- dimentional space from a simple line drawing. I think I’m interested in giving form to things that aren’t really there.
Lark returned 2015
Lark 2016
acrylic and conté on wood 35x45 cm £1180
acrylic and conté on wood 35x45 cm £600
Katrin Mäurich
The painting on the left, together with two other paintings, had been misdirected and presumed on its way to an exhibition in Germany. I tried desperately to find them, spending weeks calling different people at the carrier’s offices and depots. The German gallerist even drove to their local distribution hub to enquire in person - all to no avail. I thought the paintings had been lost for good but found it difficult to put the matter to rest. The loss of this one particular work called “lark 2015” was particularly painful and I became interested in why that would be and what it says about the relationship I have to the paintings I make. I also resolved to do a little experiment and try to repeat the lost painting from memory and from an image I had of it. I thought this would be interesting because the original had developed in my usual fashion - without a plan and over a long period of time with many roads not taken. The second one was painted with the knowledge of the original’s final appearance but fading memory of the journey that had got me there. I also tried to not “box myself in” too much but allow some variation - other avenues opened up this time and I followed some of them. I am able to show these two works together because all three “lost” paintings finally turned up again out of the blue half a year later. There was no note or comment they were simply there, leaning against my studio door, in their original packaging. So here it is, under its new name “lark returned 2015”.
Approaching the Red House acrylic on canvas 40 x 50cm £500
Lucile Montague
This painting is one of a series of dreamlike images done in the last few years based loosely on memories of love and loss. The figure in the foreground is approaching the house but the distant figure has already left. He is always ahead on the road walking towards the light. Will she be able to follow and join him at the edge of the wood to complete their journey together or will he always be just ahead but out of reach?
Forever young digital artwork on photograph - Limited edition 43cm x 53cm x 5cm ÂŁ150
Jean-Pierre Mas
Are you the past, the present or the future? In which time are you living?
Untitled (Memoria) 2017 clay, seeds and gold leaf on wood 100 x 25 cm ÂŁ800
Benjamin Parker
This piece is a “modern fossil”, a fossilized memory of mankind’s ancient past. It uses natural materials (clay, seeds, gold) to create an object surrounded by the mystery and magic associated with the discovery of an artefact underneath layers of historical information. It wishes to create an experience akin to the discovery of an archaeological site, an unexplainable familiarity accompanied with wonder and ultimately a sense of cultural resonance. My “modern fossils” use layering of natural materials with combinations of repetitive geometric form to re-create the contradictions and similarities between nature and the human experience.
Jaguar Traces mixed media 70 x 45 x 45cm ÂŁ280
Michelle Reader
This sculpture is made up of the traces found around my studio of the jaguar sculpture I made a few years ago. The little model jaguar I used for reference; the papier-mâchÊ prototype head; reference images, graph paper and sketches; and offcuts of satellite dishes, remote controls and other TV parts.
Thinking of You photograph 43 x 33cm F 9 x13.5cm U £75
Daniela Rizzi
“Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them.� Marcel Proust Memories, are our only true possessions. Crucifixes act as reminders of the unforgotten, loss and found memories.
Action Research (In A Suprematist Style) 2017 cyanotype in production frame 84 x 59cm £500
Barry Sykes
One of a series of Cyanotypes (or Sunographs) made on my current Artist Residency at Oakwood Naturist Club, Essex. Visiting the Club once a month I am examining the origins, history and current state of Naturism in Essex through interviews, experiments, archives and photography, at a place that understandably discourages the direct use of cameras. The Cyanotypes are made from arranged objects (here various naturist books and periodicals) on light sensitive paper, laid out on the Sun Bathing Lawn for several minutes. The residency is part of Focal Point Gallery’s ‘Radical Essex’ season examining the county as a space for radicalism in thought, lifestyle, politics and architecture over the last century.
Fred the Friendly Fish - Parrot Fish Scaridae (detail) household plastics 70cm x 140cm x 14cm ÂŁ900
Sandie M Sutton
I was incredibly fortunate to go snorkelling in Slaughter Bay, Norfolk Island. A tiny island in the South Pacific. The bay has a pristine coral reef & an abundance of tropical fish. It felt like paradise. Whilst swimming I noticed I was being followed by a technicolour Parrot Fish. A memory I hold close & share with my family who shared a similar experience. I was surprised to find out this fish was known & named by the locals.’ Fred the Friendly Fish’. I found it touching that a bay named after the Whaling trade had now become a place so precious & valued that individual fish were acknowledged. I choose to honour this fish using the materials most at hand. Our household plastics. Sadly the latest threat to this environment.
I would rather not go back to the old house watercolour on Japanese paper 2016 31.5 x 24 cm
Emma Talbot
This is a drawing from memory, of going as a teenager with my Dad to a lock- up garage where he kept an old car. On arrival, my brother and I were startled to realise the garage was next to the house where we’d lived as very small children. We’d never returned before, not since our parents had divorced and the memories of the house were very charged. This drawing is about the impossibility of going back in time, except in our minds. This is one of the memory drawings I made when preparing for my exhibition at the Freud Museum, London (2016).
Folding and Unfolding Time curated by
Neil Irons
Works are for sale including 20% commision to Barbican Arts Group Trust http://www.barbicanartsgrouptrust.co.uk
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