David Nash - Force of Nature

David Nash - seen here

If you haven't caught it yet, do take an hour to watch this beautiful documentary, Force of Nature about North Wales sculptor David Nash screened on BBC Four this week (only available to view until Wednesday 2 March) . The work of Culture Colony's Pete Telfer, the documentary is the result of the long working relationship Pete has had with Nash, and the lovely direction of the piece reflects that deep affinity and knowledge of the processes, the work and the man himself.

David Nash - Oculus - Image Courtesy of YSP - photographer Jonty Wilde

© Jonty Wilde

Nash's work has such authority, such enviable focus and continuity. There is nothing artificial, nothing pretentious about it. Straightforward and poetic, the curator of work for his current show at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park talks about the monumental piece Oculus as 'calligraphic', Zen-like in it's way of being, and I feel that is a feature of so much of Nash's work. It is - it is meant to be - it could not be anything other than that which it is.

Pile

Pile - Chapter Arts Centre - seen here

I popped into Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff yesterday and had a look at the current exhibition, Pile. On the first look round I didn't quite know how to negotiate the work, so I went out of the gallery and came in again with the intention of looking in a less prescribed way.

None of the work from the 31 artists represented is labeled, it has been arranged in groups, sometimes piled on top of other work. The conversation is an art hubbub, all the voices are speaking at once. It's an interesting idea, and ultimately the only clear voice, ringing like a bell is that of the curator, Craig Fisher.

On my second approach I looked at the gallery as a whole, much more as one unified installation than individual works. In that way it made a very cohesive and satisfying experience. The intention of the show is to "...question the conventions of showing work within a group exhibition." This aspect of the show is very successful - it felt quite weird to be looking at art in a gallery without the comforting language of labelling that we are used to. I realise that my own convention is to look at the work, and then look for the label, I want to find some kind of pivot through which to stabilise my experience. It's actually rather liberating to be denied that clarification.

The other question that is raised with this show is the role of the curator; the relationship and weighting of the curator's vision with the artist's work. I live in a strange no-man's land in my role as a gallery person on one hand and a practising artist on the other. I see the story from both sides of the fence and appreciate the role both play. It is probably the inevitable outcome of Post-modernism that the curator has become a deeply powerful creative force in his/her own right; arguably sometimes more powerful than the individual artist and even the art itself. Is this relationship good for 'art'? Does it contextualise the artist's work or manipulate it? Does it allow the work to speak or drown out it's authentic voice? Is it all about careers or all about interpretation? In this instance that curator is also a participating artist, so the debate is softened somewhat, he perhaps has more authority to play with the art in this way.

These are the participating artists: David Bance, Jonathan Baldock, Katriona Beales, Lotti V Closs, Sean Cummins, Sam Dargan, Sean Edwards, David Ersser, Craig Fisher, Dan Ford, Simon Franklin, Lynn Fulton, S Mark Gubb, Frank Kent, Brendan Lyons, Laura McCafferty, Zoe Mendelson, Clare Mitten, Jock Mooney, Lauren O’Grady, Audrey Reynolds, Gary Simmonds, Lucienne Simpson, Derek Sprawson, Debra Swann, Lee Triming, Gerard Williams, Annie Whiles, Richard Woodsand Neil Zakiewicz.

Outlandia

London Fieldworks - Outlandia - seen here

Thanks to Dezeen for this morning's post on this amazing art project in Glen Nevis in the Scottish Highlands. This is my dream studio! Commissioned by artist led, London Fieldwork and realised by architects, Malcolm Fraser, Outlandia has been developed as a flexible space and field station in which artists and community groups can come together to consider creative responses to environmental concerns. The structure is inspired by "...childhood dens, wildlife hides and bothies, by forest outlaws and Japanese poetry platforms."

London Fieldworks - Outlandia - seen here

Built in the Glen and facing out to the slopes of Ben Nevis, the project encapsulates and explores the issues of wilderness and human intervention. Tensions between areas of outstanding natural beauty, industry and community have under pinned the project.

London Fieldworks - Outlandia - seen here

Paul Villinski

Paul Villinski - Consonance - seen here

I have recently discovered the work of American artist Paul Villinski. He has a particular focus on the reclaimed and recycled in his practice. The pieces he has made using found gloves are particularly captivating. The artist finds lost work gloves on the streets and uses hand sewing, gilding or drawing to bring them into a new existence as art. The wing pieces (mostly from the early to mid 1990's) are incredibly striking, but I actually like the quietness and profundity of those with gilded finger tips.

Paul Villinski - Lift - seen here

Antonia Dewhurst - Drawings

Antonia Dewhurst - Gimmeshelter - seen here

I posted recently about a body of work by Antonia Dewhurst, Gimmeshelter which looks at vernacular corrugated iron shelters in north Wales. Here are a collection of lovely ball point pen drawings which accompany the series.

Antonia Dewhusrt - Gimmeshelter - seen here

Antonia Dewhusrt - Gimmeshelter - seen here

Antonia Dewhusrt - Gimmeshelter - seen here

Avi Allen: Always A Little Anxious

Avi Allen - Always A Little Anxious

I went to Theatr Mwldan Gallery in Cardigan last night to the opening of a show by Avi Allen, Always A Little Anxious. The first time I saw Avi's work was in the National Eisteddfod a couple of years back, a lovely set of drawings of animal paws; really sensitive and tender. Avi's use of space, isolating her drawings in an expanse of white accentuates the feeling of tenderness and focus. Drawing is at the heart of her practice, she sees it as a vehicle and a space for conversation. 

Avi Allen - seen on Facebook

For this show, the artist has taken a theme of animal trophies as her subject, she says: "I am interested in the complex relationship between humans and animals and am currently exploring the phenomenon of displaying dead trophy animals. Can trophy displays memorialise the beauty of nature? Or is it a process which serves to promote, maintain and normalise the objectification and normalisation of animal as other?"

As well as using drawing and collage, the artist also includes two video pieces which further explore the subject matter. I found the content quite disturbing, I am personally very sensitive to the suffering of animals. I found it a challenging show on that level. I do like Avi's technique however, her use of drawing is refreshing and distinctive.

Paul Emmanuel - Fleece Painting

Paul Emmanuel - Cefn Coed Isaf - Photo: Paul Emmanuel

The new show at Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Paul Emmanuel -  Fleece painting opened last Friday evening. Paul was with us to hang the show and it has been a pleasure to talk with him and watch the show unfold in the gallery space.

All the works are made using raw sheep fleeces gathered locally to the artist's home and studio in the Brecon Beacons. Each piece is treated with a process involving oil paints and other media along with human hairstyling products and techniques, and then named after the farm from which it was sourced. The catalogue essay for the show has been written by Karen MacKinnon, Exhibitions Officer at The Glynn Vivian Gallery in Swansea who has watched the working process of the series develop.

Paul Emmanuel - Fleece Paintings (waiting to be hung)

Although I had seen some of the fleece works in the flesh as part of Oriel Mostyn's post refurbishment show, We have the mirrors, we have the plans... , I had mostly encountered them through photographs and had developed a particular expectation of the finished pieces which was very much confounded by the actual objects. I have been working on publicity with the lead image for the show Cefn Coed Isaf, a particularly powerful image. There are overtones of blood, violence, sex in this piece that are not necessarily typical. I was surprised that generally, I found the work light and funny alongside its many other conceptual layers.

Perhaps the first interpretation of this body of work addresses Emmanuel's role as an artist in a farming community, and specifically in Wales with its ever-present sheep farming stereotypes and jokes. Beyond that and an initial association with landscape and place there are complex issues at play. An investigation around 'nature versus culture', where do these two states and their particular languages meet, where do they cross over? Personally, I am reminded again of the philosopher John Gray's book, Straw Dogs: On humans and other animals. In a post-Darwinian age of evolutionary theories and genetic mapping, what distinguishes human and animal? What claim can human beings have to a unique position in the world?

Emmanuel's past work has questioned the idea of the 'painter' and the business of painting and that is also an important element in the work, he is playing with the boundaries of the discipline. The identifying dyes and markings which farmers apply to the fleece are still visible in some of the pieces and that is also part on the conversation. Bringing these works out from the studio, away from their natural environment and into a white space gallery demands another layer of conceptual interpretation, Paul mentioned that even the journey to bring the pieces into the gallery had been part of his ongoing dialogue with the work.

With its references to the human body and allusions to pubic hair there is an unsettling psychological aspect to the work, it challenges ideas about our sexuality and the overlays of romance and refinement we bring to it.

I'm looking forward to having the works in the gallery for the next six weeks and continuing to think about what they might mean and how they effect me.

The show continues until 26 February.