Bideford Black: The Next
Generation
Nine new art commissions
for Burton Art Gallery
We are receiving some fantastic comments about the exhibition - it really is important to see these works.
We are receiving some fantastic comments about the exhibition - it really is important to see these works.
Bideford
Black: The Next Generation is the outcome of a year during which nine artists
from across the UK pushed Bideford Black pigment to its physical limits and
asked what the material might mean today. Below is an itroduction to the artworks, but experiencing them is invaluable. The works, as a collection, can be read individually or as a joint narrative.
The film presented by Liberty Smith reviews the research process behind the works. Thirty minutes of footage captures a year and underpins the exhibition.
ATOI
Two
arresting works from Cornwall-based artist duo ATOI are the result of
re-introducing Bideford Black pigment into charged scenarios, similar to those
which have formed, unformed and transformed it across millennia. Expect to see
dirt and diamonds.
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| Coerce
Course 2015 plasterboard, Bideford Black photo Julian Smith |
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| Black
Diamond 2015 Bideford Black photo Julian Smith |
Tabatha Andrews
Imposing
cast paper forms by Devon-based artist Tabatha Andrews reach out directly to
the senses. Her huge wall assemblage reverses perspective and seeks to visualise
the invisible seam of Bideford Black running underneath the North Devon
landscape.
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Tool 2015 pebble found on Bideford Bay used to
burnish the drawing
photo Julian Smith |
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| Sedimentary Memory 2015 Bideford Black, shellac and
paper photos Julian Smith |
Luce Choules
Artist
Luce Choules explored both physical and emotional geography through her experimental
fieldwork. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Luce has developed Seam,
a choreographed exhibition for Bideford Black: The Next Generation. Expect it to change during the exhibtion period.
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C-type print reverse mounted on Perspex, hand-cut
Giclee prints 384 fragments
photos Julian Smith
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Corinne Felgate
Collapsing
man-made and natural environments, artist Corinne Felgate has created a
selection of site-specific poems and an installation in a traditional museum cabinet. The
latter is comprised of a series of fossil-like sculptures, which have been
meticulously moulded and cast from paraphernalia from cosmetic industries which formerly
used Bideford Black.
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A Truce with Time 2015
Plaster casts and poems
(Title refers to Mary Stella
Edwards’ book of poems)
photos Julian Smith
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Neville Gabie, Joan Gabie, Ian Cook
Prompted
by Bideford Black, and using a shared sketchbook, artists Neville Gabie and
Joan Gabie conducted a ‘dialogue of ideas’ with Cultural Geographer Ian Cook
(University of Exeter). Together, the three explored the physical, social and
geological significance of Bideford Black, presenting several films of studio drawings
and artefacts discovered and created along the way.
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Bideford Black suit Neville Gabie
photo Julian Smith
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Cabinet of Curiosities (several items)
Cut down yard broom for
drawing purposes, pieces of Bideford Black
photo by Julian Smith
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DUST
A set of five films made using Bideford Black.
Edition of 3+1 artists proof
photo Julian Smith
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Littlewhitehead
Glaswegian artists Craig Little and Blake Whitehead - were intrigued by the environmental processes that formed Bideford Black. Ever-elusive, the Scottish duo kept their work under tight wraps during its development. They made LP records with the pigment, casting it and playing it. They battled with it to make it give up the secret of its uniqueness – to share its voice. Listen to the experimental sound recordings of their raw data – and their surprising conclusion.
Lizzie Ridout
Glaswegian artists Craig Little and Blake Whitehead - were intrigued by the environmental processes that formed Bideford Black. Ever-elusive, the Scottish duo kept their work under tight wraps during its development. They made LP records with the pigment, casting it and playing it. They battled with it to make it give up the secret of its uniqueness – to share its voice. Listen to the experimental sound recordings of their raw data – and their surprising conclusion.
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|
Bideford black reminded us
of 3 million years.
There is nothing quick about the formation of sound 2015 Audio, text
photo Julian Smith
|
Lizzie
Ridout has set Bideford Black within a new taxonomy - or story - of the colour
of Bideford Black. Incorporating her research into the subject, the
Cornwall-based artist has created a printed publication, pieces of which
audience members will be able to take away. She foraged the Burton archive, gathering
tones and marks from the collection to present in a different, delicate way in
the gallery.
Sam Treadaway
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A Polychromy in Black 2015
Set of nine photopolymer
printed tones presented on wall and as a stack
Series of collaged prints
photo by Julian Smith
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In Equal Measure 2015 Scent accords, etched glass
bottles
photo Julian Smith
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A Clearing 2015 Dimensions variable.
Scent accords,
etched stainless steel drums, pallet, stretchwrap, Bideford Black, diffusers
photo Julian Smith
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Bideford Black: The Next Generation is a Burton Art Gallery project
managed in association with Flow Contemporary Arts and Claire Gulliver. It is supported using public funding by the National
Lottery through Arts Council England.
We
are grateful for the support of the Friends of the Burton Art Gallery and
Museum.
Bideford
Black: The Next Generation
Exhibition
Opens
3 October 2015
Burton
Art Gallery & Museum, Bideford, Devon, EX39 2QQ
Free
T: 01237 471455
E:
burtonartgallery@torridge.gov.uk
ARTIST’S WEBSITES:
http://www.islandsandrivers.com/our-films/ (Liberty
Smith)
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