David Riley Archives

After a successful and very positively received installation at APT Gallery in Deptford, This ‘Me’ of Mine moves onto its second venue in a four venue tour. The exhibition will open Friday 12 April at Strange Cargo|Georges House Gallery in Folkestone. The new venue is a lot more intimate than the generous space at APT and therefore might be an interesting challenge for Jane Boyer, the curator, to recreate the grandiose atmosphere I felt when I visited the show.

Jane Boyers says “Stage two of a four venue tour begins this week at Strange Cargo|Georges House Gallery in Folkestone. The difference in gallery space for the second venue will impact the relationships of the works to each other and will present new connections for visitors to the show. The changing context of space becomes a visible manifestation of the project theme – ‘self in relation to context’.”

““When I installed the work at APT in their wonderful space, I was able to give much of that space to the works themselves, allowing time for reflection and possibly a deeper look into the work in the show. I soon realised, though, that the space I allowed the works became more than just ‘space’, it became a visible manifestation of the project theme, self in relation to context. Just as each piece in the show makes visible an aspect of self and identity, this space made ‘context’ visible. That excited me,”

If we had to pick out three artworks from what we saw at APT, David Riley, Aly Helyer and David Minton got our attention and our curiosity excited.

David Ryley‘s work using some very 2.0 mediums such as a digital photo frame and or twitter who makes him a very cutting-edge and interesting artist to observe. We particularly liked his work “Twitter user names: coded and transcribed – TUNC” (c)2013 which consists of printed A4 office paper, printed on an office inkjet printer, connected into a continuous record using binding combs. Hung using a steel rod and steel eyelets. 300mm x 1800mm x 20mm (variable, will grow). You cannot get more current than that!

While social media channels are becoming part of out lives, and can even take over then, we understood here why Jane Boyer included this piece in her show as a witness of the ‘ME’ in a social interaction phenomena.

Aly Helyer‘s ‘Strange Fruit‘ (c)2007 ink on paper 67 x 101 cm mesmerised us and took us to many places. Look at it again and you seem to perceive things, or are they faces or just thoughts. Thoughts of the artist, maybe not so happy but that reminded us that the ‘ME’ is before deep inside all of us.

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This ‘Me’ of Mine showcases work by: Aly Helyer, Edd Pearman, Jane Boyer, Darren Nixon, Hayley Harrison, Melanie Titmuss, Annabel Dover, Kate Murdoch, David Minton, Anthony Boswell, David Riley, Sandra Crisp, Sarah Hervey, Shireen Qureshi, and Cathy Lomax.

Strange Cargo|Georges House Gallery

Georges House

8 The Old High Street

Folkestone

Kent CT20 1RL

www.strangecargo.org.uk

12 April to 7 May 2013

PV 12 April, 6-9pm

Mon to Sat, 10 to 5pm

Peripheral Vision (c)2010 David Minton — Peripheral Vision, (c)2010 David Minton, oil on canvas

But it may be that without meaning there is only space, so in a sense I make my paintings by accident, but knowingly so. The central space created by painting ‘at the periphery’ has a tension that is constantly pregnant with possibility. In order to remain so, the tensions of space are never resolved, but continue and it is this continued lack of resolution that forms the overall content of the picture.[1] Perhaps what’s missing is what’s outside that loop or the fear of its ceasing to be a loop and become something that runs forward in time. All those fears and hopes, everything the intimacy within the home brings, begins to open up to a greater loss and eventually time will bring the loss of things because of the infinite nature of time; everything outside of time is infinite.[2]

At art college we were encouraged to self-analyse our output and I found myself not fully understanding how I travelled from initial concept to final outcome. So, now I find it useful to think of myself as a black box where every new line of enquiry has the potential to reveal more of my inner (often hidden) self and my motivations for doing what I do.[3] Initially it was very important to move away from outward observation, it came out of necessity for me, and I had to close myself off from the real world for a while although outward observation is creeping back into the work acting as little anchors.[4] All that is visible is a barely responsive exterior… This indifference, characteristic to the figures in my paintings, suggests the social is almost taken away. You wonder what is revealed in this state of consciousness, just mindless projections on to others perhaps.[5]

Woman with Cardigan (c)2010 Melanie Titmuss — Woman with Cardigan, (c)2010 Melanie Titmuss, oil on canvas

This play on words, mixing up sentences from each artist interviewed so far for This ‘Me’ of Mine, is not intended as a clever ploy at meaning-making, but rather a look at the interconnectedness of the issues of the self and identity. Each of these artists is concerned in their own way with issues of self in their work. It is fascinating for me as curator to see how their concerns link together in the universal struggle to self-identify; something which I hope will become evident through these interviews.

Join us in the on-going discussions. Go to INTERVIEWS at the This ‘Me’ of Mine blogsite to read more from David Minton, Anthony Boswell, David Riley, Aly Helyer and Melanie Titmuss, the artists interviewed and quoted above (see credits below for links to the individual interviews).

Interviews coming up: Sarah Hervey, Shireen Qureshi and Sandra Crisp. Waiting in the wings: Kate Murdoch, Annabel Dover, Edd Pearman, Cathy Lomax, Hayley Harrison, and Darren Nixon. Art Historian and critic, Becky Huff Hunter, is kindly interviewing me and that will be coming up too.

[1] The Temporary Suspension of Tension; an interview with David Minton, 2012 Jane Boyer for This ‘Me’ of Mine, found at: http://thismeofmine.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/the-temporary-suspension-of-tension/

[2] Living in the Constant; an interview with AnthonyBoswell, ibid, found at: http://thismeofmine.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/living-in-the-constant/

[3] I Am a Black Box; an interview with David Riley, ibid, found at: http://thismeofmine.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/i-am-a-black-box/

[4] Anchors of Observation; an interview with Aly Helyer, ibid, found at: http://thismeofmine.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/anchors-of-observation/

[5] A Barely Responsive Exterior; an interview with Melanie Titmuss, ibid, found at: http://thismeofmine.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/a-barely-responsive-exterior/

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Tag Archives: David Riley

This Me Of Mine moves to Strange Cargo| Georges House Gallery

The Universal Struggle to Self-Identify: This 'Me' of Mine

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