A group art exhibition at the Merton Priory archaeological site,
Colliers Wood, London: 8, 9 and 15, 16 October 2011
The Chapter House ruins, once part of the massive and historically important Merton Priory (destroyed by Henry VIII), are the site of an exhibition of contemporary art during the first Merton Arts Trail this October.
Curators Sue Evans and Wendy Bliss have chosen ten recent graduates, mainly from Wimbledon College of Art, who will be showing work made in response to the heritage site. Steeped in history, the many artifacts found during various excavations of the Chapter House over time, have been catalogued and stored in the archives of the Museum of London. Some of these will be on display during the exhibition, being aired for the first time in many years, as the artists have chosen one or more to support their artwork installations.
Participating artists are Robert Aldous, Jane Bailey, Wendy Bliss, Sue Evans, Maxwell Flood, Fiona Leighton-Crawford, Fiona Long, Helen Newhouse, Maxine Pringle and Chris Rowe.
Cultural Field Studies, Fiona Long, 2010
Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds installation at the Turbine Hall in Tate Modern. A wonderful piece of artwork by one of my favourite artists. This film has a weird comical atmosphere though as it seems to be as much about photography as it is the artwork!
I really enjoyed being a part of the Park ‘09 exhibition of site based art works in the beautiful Cannizaro Park in Wimbledon. This year the event was curated by Sarah B Davies who selected projects from proposals by BA and MA Wimbledon School of Art students. The exhibition was a great success in spite of the pretty dicey weather. I’d considered the British weather when I came up with the idea of my piece so I not only had somewhere dry to sit whilst invigilating it, it also had a certain poetry to it.
I felt that this “Umbrella Den” would be ideal for Cannizaro since it fits in with attributes of the park such as dens, tunnels and shelter. The suburban park relates very closely to the umbrella since both are part practical, part ornamental. One is unlikely to spot either a rose garden or someone sporting an umbrella in the wilderness. In the park, or under an umbrella, events take place which can be semi-obscured: a lover’s kiss, a conversation, family bonding. I also intended a wry nod to the sea of umbrellas at Wimbledon tennis.
In my studio work, I have been looking at how objects are used and reused; their functionality redefined. I enjoyed the opportunity of exploring this theme within the larger arena of the park and observing how the public negotiated these visual questions. I am intrigued by the relationship between man and nature and their constant interplay so this work embodies this. The man-made umbrella used as shelter is blown inside out and broken by nature’s elements then redefined in a suburban setting amidst trees as a structure using both natural and man made elements. A shelter made from smaller umbrella shelters beneath the larger trees which also act as shelter.
I saw an amazing multi-screen installation at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester by Jane and Louise Wilson called Monument (Apollo Pavilion, Peterlee). The modernist monument by Victor Pasmore was one a symbol of optimism but is now neglected and has fallen into disrepair. In the film, it is being explored and clambered over by the playful misrule of a group of teeneage boys. The space becomes activated by their dangerous clamberings but it also highlights the haunting decay of the structure. If you ever get the chnce to see the film, I thoroughly recommend it.
Pylon Idol, my sculpture for Away Day by Post Artists
This photo was taken by a lovely photographer from the Wimbledon Guardian with his fish-eye lens.
Rebuilding my ‘pylon idol’ for ‘Post Artist’s’ ‘Away Day’ in Wandle Park, Colliers Wood this weekend.
