Elbow:
New works by Ian Dawson, Claude Heath, Louisa Minkin, Nicola Thomas, John Greenwood, Jenny Dunseath, Michael Colegate and Mhairi Vari.
Private View Friday 4th September 6.30-8.30pm
Talk with the Artists Friday 18th September 7.30pm
5th September – 4th October 2015
The Elbow, the part of the human body that a blind or partially sighted person takes hold of, four fingers on the inside, thumb on the outside; holding with a firm grip to assist them with navigation. It is a common guiding technique linking two people into an unfamiliar choreography.
This summer C&C Gallery hosted an innovative residency programme, transforming the gallery space into a dynamic studio environment in order to respond to ideas surrounding the condition of blindness. During this time eight artists variously came and went, engaging with a whole repertoire of processes, from casting to laser scanning, leaving a variety of traces of their activities. Much of the work, arrived at through a collaborative approach has sought to obliquely cast a shadow across the subject, remaining open towards the process of making, and the work remains in a state of uncertainty even at the time of writing.
During a workshop in the space hosted by John Dickinson-Lilley, the artists wore blind glasses and stumbled rather pathetically around the gallery and the local high street, feeling unsure, insecure and inept, grounded only by the feeling of the floor beneath ones feet and ones fingers upon a companions elbow. Within the space; chalk lines, floor to ceiling columns and laser scanning targets have created an installation for measurement, where diverse material usage- including borax, expanding foam and cat litter humorously confound expectation.
Artists collaborating with Elbow include:
Ian Dawson (b.1969) has exhibited internationally in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Berlin, and his work is held in both public and private collections worldwide. He is the author of Making Contemporary Sculpture, The Crowood Press.
Claude Heath (b. 1964) studied philosophy and has rapidly gained recognition for his paintings, drawings and wall-drawings through group exhibitions at The Saatchi Gallery, London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (the 1996 Open, the exhibition Antechamber in 1997, the 1998 Open), De Appel Foundation, Amsterdam, The British Museum, Essor gallery, London, and the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden. Claude Heath was a Prizewinner in the 1997 John Moores Exhibition. He was the first artist-in-residence at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, and this led to a solo show in the Study Galleries, Leeds City Art Gallery (1999). His work is included in several major British art collections.
Louisa Minkin (b. 1963) studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing, University of Oxford, and at the Royal College of Art, London. Recent exhibitions include Sunset is an all day process at LLS 387, Antwerp Belgium; Surface Wave, Foxy Production, New York; Huis Clos, Five Years, London; Cunning Chapters, the British Library, London; Transiti, Accademia Britannica, Roma; Frenzy, the Metropole Galleries, Folkestone. Awards include the Abbey Fellowship in Painting at the British School at Rome (2006) and the Art Foundation Fellowship in Painting (1994).
Nicola Thomas has completed her MA at the Royal College of Art, where she was awarded the Augustus Martin Prize 2013 by Gill Saunders of the Victoria & Albert Museum. She is also the recipient of the London Print Studio New Graduate Award 2013. Recent exhibitions include Multiplied, Christie’s; Carousel, Aspex Gallery; and Parallax, CGProjects. Nicola’s prints are included in the V&A Special Print Collection and form part of the RCA Special Print Collection. Nicola’s Jealous Prize print edition is also held in the Victoria & Albert Museum Permanent Print Collection.
John Greenwood (b. 1959) graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1990, where he received the Cite Internationale Paris residency award, the Burston Award and the Midland Bank purchase award. Solo exhibitions include: Jason Rhodes Gallery, London, Galerie Helmut Pabst, Frankfurt, Europaische Zentral Galerie, Frankfurt and Europaische Zentral Galerie, C&C Gallery, London. Selected group exhibitions include: Young British Artists, Saatchi Gallery, Mutations (two person exhibition with William Latham), Manchester City Art Gallery, Helen de Sybil and John Greenwood, Jason Rhodes Gallery, Fusion, Rhodes + Mann Gallery inaugural show, The Modern City in Europe, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toyko, Cheers, Sun and Doves Gallery, London, The Armory Show, Rhodes + Mann Gallery, New York, Trailer and Guns and Roses, London, curated by Juan Bolivar. John Greenwoods work can be found in several public collections including: Arts Council of Great Britain, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Paisley Museum and Art Gallery, private collections include: Saatchi Collection, Midland Bank (HSBC), Absolute Vodka, The T.I. Group, Susan Kasen Summers and Steve Martin.
Jenny Dunseath (b. 1978) is a London based artist and Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University. She works internationally and she has had exhibitions at the Korean Cultural Centre, Flat Time House, Royal Academy, OUTPOST and she was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2005.
Michael Colegate (b. 1994) was born in Saudi Arabia before moving to London, England as a child. Michael uses his experiences with travel and memory as a tool to identify ideas and simplify them into their most fundamental elements. Striving to communicate a direct and clear message within both his art and design practices. Recent exhibition include The Winchester School of Art Degree Show, Winchester School of Art, Winchester, June 2015; It Is What It Is, group show, Winchester School of Art Gallery, May 2015; The Event, group show, Winchester School of Art, December 2014; This is Tomorrow, group show, Winchester School of Art, December 2013; Weight Not Volume, group show, Winchester School of Art, May 2013.
Mhairi Vari (b.1970) is a London based artist. Her recent exhibitions include Perpetual doubt, constant becoming (Lydney), Lydney Park Estate, Gloucestershire; Perpetual doubt, constant becoming (John St), Domobaal Gallery, London; LOL Memory, Art13 Project, Olympia, London; Repeater, Park Avenue, (permanent installation) New York; Domain, Domobaal Gallery, London; Haste Ye Back (Desert rose), ARTicle Gallery, Birmingham.
See more about the Residency programme here
