Re-Surface
private view august 13, exhibition august 13 – september 5
Tenderpixel is pleased to present Re-Surface, Marina Kassianidou’s first solo exhibition in London. In Re-Surface Kassianidou amplifies the historic traces of the gallery space’s past inhabitants, and responds to each surface, referencing patterns and echoing scratches, dirt and stains in the actual gallery space. The placement of the works re-activates elements already existing in the gallery space–galvanizing their historicity as palimpsests are revitalized and elements are reconfigured and reinterpreted.
Investigating notions of texture and surface, Marina’s installation includes ‘pseudo-hidden art,’ such as the placement of linoleum pieces on a similar floor–oscillating between being a piece of art or a piece of floor, between presence and absence.
Kassianidou is an artist and writer based in Limassol and London. In 2005, she obtained an MFA at Central Saint Martins. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Her work/writing has been exhibited and published internationally.
We look forward to seeing you at the exhibition.
Tender Wishes, Etan, Sunshine and Jess
For Press enquiries, please contact Sunshine Frere at the gallery on 020 7379 9464 / 079 1434 7777
T E N D E R P I X E L G A L L E R Y
An Innovative Exhibition Space for Emerging Artists
10 Cecil Court
WC2N 4HE
020 7379 9464
mail@tenderpixel.com
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square
Mimi paints drawings and draws paintings, and uses lots of colour on top of her paintidrawings.
You might marvel at the perfect symmetry of hundreds of hand-drawn ant paths. Be it a cow, a dog, or a woodland log, you may find these images ‘cute.’ However, beware, upon closer inspection you will realise that these are a collection of Mimi’s more sinister thought manifestations. Mimi’s clean line movements and bold colour designs are her way of confronting death, decay and the things she has seen yet attempted to suppress into the back of her mind.
GOODBYE TURDBRAINS! is the result of her mental journey.
You may be disgusted, you may be fascinated, or both… this is bloody life transformed into bloody art.
T E N D E R P I X E L G A L L E R Y
An Innovative Exhibition Space for Emerging Artists
10 Cecil Court
WC2N 4HE
020 7379 9464
www.tenderpixel.com
mail@tenderpixel.com
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square
submitted by Sunshine Frere
Heave, 2008, pigeon feathers, felt, wood, 160 x 80 x 55 cmRecently discovered the beautiful work of London artist Kate MccGwire.
Artist statement excerpt… “Much of Kate’s work references Freud’s ‘Unheimliche’ (the uncanny, or, literally, the ‘unhomely’); the idea, to quote Freud, of ‘a place where the familiar can somehow excite fear’. It also embraces artistic notions of the Abject.
She will take an everyday thing or idea that is intrinsically discomfiting and, by re-framing it, entice the viewer into re-examining their preconceptions and prejudices – cultural, historical, personal – about the everyday. The viewer’s response is visceral, the impact immediate, the ideas triggered resonating in their mind somewhere beyond rational interpretation.”
June 5 to 21, 2009, the artist’s work will be featured in “The Space Between” at the Crypt, St Pancras Church, London
See more of Kate’s work on her website.
via Design*Sponge
Here are a few more images of work from Sally Spinks’ exhibition “Are you sitting comfortably?” last month at Tenderpixel in London.
Visit artist website www.sallyspinks.co.uk
Canadian artist Laura Kikauka is the Queen of Tat! Her first solo show in the UK recently (March 7 to May 2) filled the entire space of the Spacex Gallery with ephemera, souvenirs, kitsch and objects of dubious taste in a garish array of colours. And the show was interactive by which I mean you could try on various items, walk through installations, touch, feel and photograph exhibits and no one told you off!
Quite why I liked the show is hard to say – it is totally the opposite of any ideas of ‘taste’ and incredibly tacky. Dividing her time between Canada and Berlin her work is well represented by the German gallery DNA Galerie, Berlin who have helped to organize this show. Various claims have been made for it for example Laura Kikauka’s ‘excessive aesthetic’, her ‘florid excess’ that challenges ‘taste, waste’ and ‘consumption’.
When I visited the show with a friend, however, the whole space was buzzing with a kids’ workshop in action. The artist’s (awful) music playing loudly on an old fashioned record player. I don’t think anyone was actually bothered by these statements. It was simply fun, loud and brash. After all we all love collecting. LauraKikauka, in my view, has taken it one step further!
submitted by Lesley Bricknell
Doug Jones’ installation ‘Non sum qualis eram’ (‘I am not what I used to be’) is currently on show at the Phoenix Arts Centre, Exeter, Devon. He is a recent Fine Art graduate and this is his second solo show in the UK. Child size bishops in beautifully sewn, decorated and printed vestments, complete with ornate and faceless mitres, fill one gallery space.
In another gallery a number of full size black garbed bishops with embroidered motifs, including skulls, are placed around a miniscule white wooden bed. Gallery notes refer to the artist as a chorister in his youth amidst Anglican clergy and having a fascination with the symbolism and iconography of the uniform and in turn authority. I was initially interested in seeing this particular show because I had read of his use and incorporation of authentic church braiding and decoration. I’d love to know how he acquired these particular items. The installation itself is striking, sinister, offbeat. It is also irreverent incorporating hip hop imagery, leopard skin prints and religious iconography. Interesting to see a subsequent show and to see if these ‘motifs’ persist.
“Nom sum qualis eram” runs from April 24 to May 31, 2009 at the Phoenix Arts Centre.
Sally Spinks, Still BurningTender Greetings! Please join us here at the gallery for a new exhibition featuring the work of artist Sally Spinks.
PRIVATE VIEW APRIL 30TH 6-9PM, EXHIBITION APRIL 30TH – MAY 18TH
Are you sitting comfortably? explores the notion of comfort zones and highlights the potential danger of stagnating oblivion that lurks behind such soothing complacency. Tenderpixel is pleased to present a trio of new pieces by artist Sally Spinks:
Protect us from what we want – a symbolic gesture exploiting signifiers of control.
Still Burning – a work produced by Spinks in reaction to the implementation of the smoking ban in London. Spinks transforms used cigarettes, items that are normally discarded and dirty, into knitted objects that are adorable, even collectible.
And the trio of work culminates in Fine Line – a work where gigantic human size cigarettes invade the gallery space acting as shamans, warning of the danger of remaining permanently fixed in a comfort zone.
Sally Spinks is a recent Masters Graduate of Goldsmiths, University of London (2008) and her practice is dedicated to issues of control and consumerism and their impact on the changing nature of Britain’s class system. She has over twenty years experience working for media organisations including the BBC. She works as a consultant in the field of learning design
focussing on the areas of creativity, leadership development and executive coaching.
DOWNLOAD FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE
T E N D E R P I X E L G A L L E R Y
An Innovative Exhibition Space for Emerging Artists
10 Cecil Court
WC2N 4HE
020 7379 9464
www.tenderpixel.com
mail@tenderpixel.com
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square
submitted by Sunshine Frere
A student recently contacted me asking who were my ‘heroes’ in art and fashion. I have none in fashion. I know very little about fashion but I seem to be developing a passion for the work of designer Hussein Chalayan. Originally from Cyprus he now works in London and shows his work internationally. And at last I’ve seen his garments and related work in the flesh! ‘From fashion and back’ is currently on show at the Design Museum, London. It features not only the infamous buried silk dress made as a student during the early 90s but also a range of current garments very much informed by his interests including architecture, science and philosophy. Related work covers video installation (not necessarily the catwalk) and videos of Tilda Swinton (considered by artist Derek Jarman to be his favourite actress) shown extracting cells to examine DNA sequences. This is ‘The Absent Presence’ (2005) shown at the Venice Biennale when Hussein Chalayan was invited to represent Turkey. The concept was to ‘map out’ a DNA sequence on to a garment and ‘sensitize’ it so that it reacted to different sounds within the London environment. Although not my original intention in visiting London it was certainly worth the four hour train journey to see this show.
This exhibition is the first comprehensive presentation of Hussein Chalayan’s work in the UK and runs until May 17.
submitted by Lesley Bricknell
Richard Ansett Solo Exhibition, March 27 to April 22
Tenderpixel Gallery is pleased to welcome back photographer Richard Ansett for a solo exhibition. Ansett’s work investigates how identities are formed and projected while interacting within social, cultural, economic and symbolic feedback circuits. Ansett re-works contemporary constructs of portraiture by shedding light on the boundaries of normative behavior, intimacy and self-expression.
Ansett’s images represent a moment in time as opposed to an instant of truth; what Ansett offers the viewer is a poignant moment of self-referential reflection. These photographs are complex manifestations, purposefully ambiguous and difficult to de-code. The artist’s work is not a form of social realism, nor is it documentary. Whilst there is obvious complicity, it is not collaboration; Ansett proposes an exploration of the subject free from the expectation to represent them in a flattering light.
Richard Ansett is a British photographer living and working in London. His work has been collected by the Smithsonian Institute, the National Portrait Gallery Permanent Collection, and The National Portrait Gallery of Canada.
DOWNLOAD FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE
CLICK HERE FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST
Tenderpixel Gallery
An Innovative Exhibition Space for Emerging Artists
10 Cecil Court
020 7379 9464
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square
Lucy Brown,Wear Me With Tender Loving Care, 2000acrylic fake fur coat, stainless steel wire, polyester47cm x 275cm x 25cm, Photo credit: James Newell
Axis is considered to the leading online resource for contemporary art in the UK. It currently has 2,500 profiles of artists and curators in its database (Directory). These are accessed via a number of search facilities and are available to anyone using the internet. Axis recently extended its membership to include artists and curators outside the UK. And also international artists who work (or have worked) in the UK. As an Axis member (UK) I have a Profile page, artworks page, Biography and Contact pages online in addition to other benefits. This is now available to all UK and non UK members. Originally a free resource there is now a relatively small annual fee in return for page updates, artwork uploads, e-bulletins and so on. As an artist I use Axis to research practices, artists, new work. Searches can be undertaken by Artworks for example Installation, Textiles, Mixed Media or Theme – Conceptual, Abstract, Political etc. and I feel it is an excellent resource.
Photo credit: James Newell
One artist I came across recently within the context of re-cycling and textiles is British artist Lucy Brown. Her working processes are interesting in that collecting, finding and even wearing old clothes are as important a process as the final piece(s). Her techniques include cutting and weaving processes. The final pieces appear to me as curious, fascinating, shrunken and compacted forms. They have an air of sadness, desolation. Items such as lapels, fastenings, seams are retained as indicators of their former ‘lives’. Lucy Brown belongs to the respected 62 group in the UK. For anyone who does not fit within Axis criteria there is a free Standard membership that includes e-bulletins, Axis Facebook, contact messages to artists (maximum of 50).
submitted by Lesley Bricknell
Poplar Gallery.Online
CARE Canada
