Crocodiles With a Second Skin Thrash

Crocodiles With a Second Skin Thrash is an exhibition curated by myself and Kate Buckley at Over+Out in Lincoln.  It is an exhibition that explores the re-use of existing material within an artist’s practice. This material is specific and highly loaded, being either that of existing artworks by the artist or incorporating the work of other artists into new artwork.

The exhibition is a sequel of sorts to A Blind Python with Jewelled Eyes, shown in the Greestone Gallery, also in Lincoln, at the tail end of 2011. This exhibition was also curated by Andrew Bracey and Kate Buckley and included many of the same artists, it explored the idea of an artwork containing two parallel elements within it, being both in one state and another, almost like a parasite occupying a host. Both exhibitions take their titles from imagery in J. G. Ballard’s The Crystal World,a dystopic novel where an unidentified and beautiful disease spreads through a rainforest turning everything into shimmering crystalline forms, like a Midas touch. The artists in these two exhibitions all, in some way, have the ability to transmute material and imagery from one thing to another, performing a kind of artistic alchemy.

I will be showing for the first time an ongoing series of self portrait photographs in other artists artworks which feature a reflective or mirrored surface.

Artists in the exhibition are Chris Bagnall, Nathan Baxter, Andrew Bracey, Kate Buckley, Joana Cifre Cerda + Laura Dodgson, Fiona Curran, Thomas Cuthbertson, Cinema Elective, Dave Griffiths, Toby Huddlestone, Peter Lamb, Ross Oliver, David Osbaldeston, Aislinn Ritchie, Alec Shepley, Emily Speed

http://crocodileswithasecondskinthrash.wordpress.com

Yojimbo in Postcards to Alphaville

I have created a 'postcard' to Kuwabatake Sanjuro (from Kurosawa's masterful Yojimbo) for Postcards to Alphaville. This is an online (hopefully book) exhibition of artists and illustrators who make an original image to a character from their chosen film. Kurosawa is my favourite director of films and although I could have chosen any number of films, I think Mifune is iconic in this role. You can see my postcard and a host of others here http://www.postcardstoalphaville.net/

Collectible at Zeitgeist Art Projects

I will be showing one of my Transitory paintings at the opening show, Collectible at Zeitgeist Art Projects, amongst some very fine company. ZAP is a new space, right near Goldsmiths art college and is run and curated by the esteemable Rosalind Davis and Annabel Tilley, with a huge amount of discernment, energy and gusto. Transitory Paintings (2011) are full of interesting contradictions as pieces of work. Paintings, yet not made of paint; Representational, yet abstract; Involved with beauty, yet through destroying. They are made from cutting triangular shaped patterns into reproductions of portrait paintings, culled from auction catalogues. 
The show features 66 artists, including Graham Crowley, Edwina Ashton, Annabel Dover, Freddie Robins, Emily Speed and Peter Jones, with everyone selling their work for under £500. So there is no excuses for not making a start or adding to your art collections! The private view is on Tuesday 17th April 6-8.30pm and continues until 28th April. More details are here http://www.zeitgeistartsprojects.com/exhibitions.html

The Gospel According To… at the Holden Gallery

Karhu This Charming Man will be showing at The Holden Gallery in Manchester at the College of Art. The work was made in Helsinki on a residency and features the Finnish traditional god, the bear, transferred to a singing Karaoke logo of a beer manufacture. In this episode the bear sings The Smiths classic song, as part of the Smiths themed show, The Gospel According to... Other artists in the show include Lucienne Cole, Jeremy Deller, Lars Laumann and Jan Timme. The private view is 6-8pm on Thursday 15th March and continues until 4th May.

Headspace at Over+Out

I will be showing The Six Most Beautiful Minutes in the History of Cinema in Headspace at Over+Out gallery in Lincoln. In this work I mine the history of cinema to create a raging cacophony of 8 frames per second for 6 minutes of images culled from cinema . 2880 scenes from a full range of genres, countries, tastes and time flash repeatedly. Like Orson Welles’ Don Quixote (of which Giorgio Agamben talks of in his essay which gives this work it’s title) the viewer is left with a choice of whether to start slashing away at the screen to halt the constant flow of images. The show features 6 artists who all featured in the first show at The Monks gallery. This show sees each artist exploring a different facet of what goes on inside their heads, a scary thought if you ask me! The show opens on Thursday 14th March 6-8pm and continues until 23rd March. Click here for more details of the show.

Gig Poster Show 3.0

I am in a exhibition of posters by invited artists and designers for a gig in Liverpool tonight (Friday 24th Feb.). I have been invited by all round good egg, Sam Wiehl to make a poster advertising a gig featuring a whole host of musical innovators, including  Insect Ark and Black Octagon, plus Enablers frontman Pete Simonelli. All this kicks off from 6.30pm at Liverpool JMU School of Art and Design. All should be good fun.

UnMasterclass at Reel

I will be showing one of my UnMasterclass films at Reel, a curated screening evening of artist's film. It is being shown in a new artist run space in an ex S&M club in Lincoln, run by Laura Mahony and Dale Fearnley and it all kicks off at 6pm with the films starting at 7pm on Monday 30th January. Bring along a cushion and drink on the night.