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| I have this strange kind of feeling and I just can't place it... |
In celebration we have issued a press release to promote the exhibition and here it is!
New pop-up gallery project Folie à Deux to launch with exhibition at Utrophia, New Cross
This autumn sees the launch of an exciting new pop-up gallery project, Folie à Deux, with an exhibition entitled 'I have this strange kind of feeling and I just can’t place it…' to be held at New Cross’s vibrant Utrophia Project Space – an old ice cream factory-turned art gallery located at 136 Tanners Hill, London SE8 4QD. The exhibition will run from 11 - 28 November 2010, and is a group show displaying the work of five artists: Judith Lyons, Nina Mankin, Giulia Ricci, Keith Roberts and Nina Royle. The exhibition will be complemented by a series of events including talks by the artists about their works and a number of musical evenings, including performances from up and coming folk bands such as Alessi’s Ark and Mariner’s Children, and celebrated musician Mauricio Velasierra.
Diverse in terms of their practice, the mediums in which they work and their sources of inspiration, the artists in the exhibition are united by an equally diverse engagement with the notion of ‘environment’ – the underlying theme of this first show. Their approaches range from delicate installations unlocking the poetic qualities of the flotsam and jetsam produced by today’s disposable society, to camera-less photographs exploring the impact of scientific advances on the natural world. Other works investigate the roles played by memory and emotion in our perception of the world around us, or consider the finely-balanced relationship between chaos and order underpinning the systems of both mankind and nature. Together, these reflective pieces subtly reveal our complex relationship with our environment, the ways in which we shape it, and are in turn shaped by it.
Judith Lyons will be showing photographs from two series which take plant and flower specimens as their subject matter. 'A Different Nature' comprises images created in the darkroom without a camera or film, while 'Un/natural Forms' features images of plant components that have been deliberately deconstructed, recombined and further transformed using inks and dyes. Creating hybrids that are unnatural and botanically flawed, they raise questions about contemporary society's relationship with the natural world and the increasing genetic modification of plant species.
Nina Mankin’s art explores a secret, inner world – its dreams, memories and stories. Her use of found and discarded materials is a direct response to our modern-day throwaway society. Nina will be showing new works from her 'Camera Illuminata' series: peepshow-like constructions that draw the viewer into fully-realised artificial environments.
Giulia Ricci – shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2010 – is fascinated by patterns and their systems, which she explores through various repetitive processes, primarily drawing on paper. She is interested in various aspects of science and mathematics, such as chaos theory, but her work is also intimately bound up with, and born of, her experiences, background and cultural reference points. These include not only the famous mosaics of her home town of Ravenna, but also the rural patchwork of fields in the countryside of Emilia-Romagna where she grew up – what she calls the ‘man-made geometry of the landscape’.
Keith Roberts trained at Camberwell School of Art and the RCA. His works often take vast areas such as the American landscape or moonlit woodland scenes as their subject; however, their contrasting small scale and delicate construction suggest the fundamental intimacy of the individual’s personal experience even of such wild, wide-open expanses as these.
Nina Royle graduated this year from the Slade School of Fine Art. Her paintings are inspired by her subjective experience of space – that is, her immediate environment – and her desire to encapsulate and represent this in a two-dimensional image. Nina’s works present perception as something in constant flux, constructed from an unstable mixture of rational, emotional and sensory responses that she aims to evoke through a heightened use of geometry, perspective, colour and form.
United by a seriousness of intent, and producing work that is visually beautiful, stirring and insightful, these artists epitomise the spirit of Folie à Deux. The first of many pop-up projects to come, this venture aims to explore universal themes from unexpected angles, with a fresh, exciting, instinctual approach that embraces all forms of art.
About Folie à Deux
Folie à Deux (‘a madness shared by two’) is a collaborative venture that aims to promote thoughtful and provocative contemporary art through temporary exhibitions around London. It is born of a simple yet sincere belief that art can make a profound difference to the quality of an individual’s life, enriching it with an element of magic and inspiration, as well as revitalising the life of a community by encouraging local participation in cultural activities. With over eleven years’ combined experience of organising exhibitions and cultural events, its founders – Christopher Adams and Clara Cowan – bring to this project a wealth of practical knowledge, an extensive network of contacts, an eye for artists of genuine merit and an irrepressible enthusiasm.
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