Open Calls & News
12/09/2010
Off the Clock London/NYC - October/November 2010
9 to 17 October, The Magnificent Basement Gallery, 128 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3AP
14 October to 14 November, 92Y Tribeca Art Gallery, 200 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013
4 November to 14 November, Like The Spice Gallery, 224 Roebling Street. Brooklyn, NY 11211
4 November to 14 November, Mile End Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, Grove Road, London, E3 4QY
About Off The Clock
This autumn four galleries in New York and London will exhibit works by artists' assistants under the banner 'Off The Clock'. Created through a collaboration between Like The Spice (New York) and ALISN, the series of exhibitions will feature work by Gary Dohertywho has assisted Sir Anthony Caro, Allison Edge who has assisted Jeff Koons, Alison Gill who has assisted Gavin Turk, Matt Blackler who assists Gordon Cheung, Benjamin Deakin who assists Keith Tyson, Jenny Morgan who assists Marilyn Minter, and others. All of these artists have spent significant time working in another artist’s studio helping to create works which can be seen in major art galleries, art fairs, important private collections and public spaces throughout the world.
Artists have used assistants at least since the early days of the apprentice system in the middle ages. Since minimalism and Warhol (not to mention the boom in contemporary art prices) it has become increasingly acceptable for artists to have works made for them. Today a studio assistant's role can vary from office tasks and documenting work, to stretching and preparing canvasses, to creating art practically from scratch. Assistants' roles in artistic production are still almost always under the radar, as having work made to order flies in the face of long held (some would say anachronistic) romantic ideals. We like to believe that artworks are a physical expression of the artist's soul; that the artist toiled to get it just right. Artists do toil, but those who can afford studio assistants have the luxury of delegating some or all of the production process.
Artists using assistants can expand their repertoire to include media they are not experienced in using; they can also produce more work, and faster. Studio assistants, whose main focus is physically making the work, are very skilled, often more expert at their particular techniques than their bosses.
Artists are usually drawn to assistantship roles as sources of paid work for their often narrowly focused skills, sometimes from interest in their employer’s art and sometimes from hopes of exposure to the apparently out-of-reach inner world of art their boss represents.
In addition to works by the artists, each of the artist's employers has also been asked to provide a letter detailing their assistant's role in the studio to be presented alongside the work. Some are forthright, others more protective, others did not respond. Each response, or lack thereof, is telling, as some artists are more open about this system than others. Some are known for crediting the work of their assistants, or even representing their assistants' work as an agent. Other artists are less open, often requiring new hires to sign strict confidentiality agreements and not publicly acknowledging using assistants at all.
Many interested artists felt unable to participate in these shows due to concerns about their existing relationship with a current employer. Others had the full support of their bosses – in a humorous reversal of roles Alison Gill will spend a day making sculptures on site assisted by her erstwhile employer Gavin Turk, alongside whom she will be inviting the visiting public to a taste of the experience of assistantship. In one of the exhibitions, other artists who have assisted the assistants will also have a chance to show their work.
The exhibitions thus aim to throw light upon and initiate debate on the obscure reality of assistantship in today’s art world, without providing any ready opinions. You are invited to see the work in each of the shows, form your own questions, and draw your own conclusions.
The Shows:
> Off The Clock - Highlights: in The Magnificent Basement...
> Off The Clock: in Mile End Art Pavilion...
> Off The Clock: 92Y Tribeca Art Gallery, New York...
> Off The Clock: Like The Spice Gallery, New York...
03/08/2010
HACKNEY WOOD ART PRIZE & AUCTION
5th August till 2nd September
Private View - Thursday 5th August, 18:00 - 22:00
Awards Ceremony - Thursday 2nd September at 19:00
The Residence gallery celebrates its 5th year anniversary with this flammable awards show and auction, HACKNEY WOOD. Going back to basics, the works will be aptly forged from the symbolic material of WOOD. This primal substance has served ancient cultures with supposed magical powers and protection, and was believed to be the shaper of all things. Read More...
28/07/2010
THE CANYONS OF YOUR MIND - THE DESERT OF YOUR GUT On the 30th July, as part of the Hackney Wicked Art Festival, the combined talents of Cosmicmegabrain (itinerant curators) and the Sit Down Affair (itinerant restauranteurs) will harmonise in an unparalleled event – A Fabulous Dinner Party with Art Music & Performance. Read More...
21/07/2010
Stratford Everyday 25 July – 8 August 2010
Opening Event: Sunday 25 July, 3 – 5pm
> Stratford Everyday website
Stratford Everyday is an exhibition that celebrates the communities that live in Stratford and the places that shape their lives. It includes art works inspired by everyday locations in Stratford - the bus station, the cemetery, the Greenway and many others.
All of the contributing artists either live or work in Stratford, or have a strong connection to the area.
Artists include: Josiah Akushie, Anna Baker, Colegrave Primary School & Glocal Films, Ting-Ting Cheng, Maria-Theresa Fernandes, Grace Gilbey, Lisa Muten, Amanda Westbury, the Greenhill Centre, the Professional Development Group at Rosetta Art Centre, users of the Hibiscus Community Centre, and young people at the Carpenters & Docklands Youth Centre.
Stratford Everyday is a visual arts heritage project initiated by English Heritage Outreach, celebrating London 2012 and the communities that live in East London.
For more information on English Heritage Outreach visit:
> english-heritage.org.uk/community
For further information on the exhibition contact:
> matthewkrishanu@gmail.com
Exhibition information:
Open Sun 25 July, Sat 31 July, Sun 1 Aug, Thurs – Sun 5, 6, 7, & 8 Aug
Opening Times 12 – 6pm
Admission Free
Venue:
Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, London E15 1BN
20/07/2010
New photographs added of Lubomirov and Batiste in The Magnificent Basement. See more...
17/07/2010
New photographs added of Sharon Gal's Venus Rising in The Magnificent Basement. See More...
10/07/2010
ALISN talks to Resonance FM ALISN talks with Sharon Gal on Resonance FM's ClearSpot, speaking about their past, present and future. Listen to the recording:
> ALISN on Resonance FM's ClearSpot - 24th June 2010 (1h 06mins - MP3 26.8MB)
06/07/2010
Journalist Candice Elizabeth Ashby writes about ALISN ALISN: A resource for young artists No one expects to leave university with an art degree and immediately land a place in a major gallery.
Read full article:
> ALISN: A resource for young artists - by Candice Elizabeth Ashby
Off the Clock London/NYC - October/November 2010
9 to 17 October, The Magnificent Basement Gallery, 128 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3AP
14 October to 14 November, 92Y Tribeca Art Gallery, 200 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013
4 November to 14 November, Like The Spice Gallery, 224 Roebling Street. Brooklyn, NY 11211
4 November to 14 November, Mile End Art Pavilion, Mile End Park, Grove Road, London, E3 4QY
About Off The Clock
This autumn four galleries in New York and London will exhibit works by artists' assistants under the banner 'Off The Clock'. Created through a collaboration between Like The Spice (New York) and ALISN, the series of exhibitions will feature work by Gary Dohertywho has assisted Sir Anthony Caro, Allison Edge who has assisted Jeff Koons, Alison Gill who has assisted Gavin Turk, Matt Blackler who assists Gordon Cheung, Benjamin Deakin who assists Keith Tyson, Jenny Morgan who assists Marilyn Minter, and others. All of these artists have spent significant time working in another artist’s studio helping to create works which can be seen in major art galleries, art fairs, important private collections and public spaces throughout the world.
Artists have used assistants at least since the early days of the apprentice system in the middle ages. Since minimalism and Warhol (not to mention the boom in contemporary art prices) it has become increasingly acceptable for artists to have works made for them. Today a studio assistant's role can vary from office tasks and documenting work, to stretching and preparing canvasses, to creating art practically from scratch. Assistants' roles in artistic production are still almost always under the radar, as having work made to order flies in the face of long held (some would say anachronistic) romantic ideals. We like to believe that artworks are a physical expression of the artist's soul; that the artist toiled to get it just right. Artists do toil, but those who can afford studio assistants have the luxury of delegating some or all of the production process.
Artists using assistants can expand their repertoire to include media they are not experienced in using; they can also produce more work, and faster. Studio assistants, whose main focus is physically making the work, are very skilled, often more expert at their particular techniques than their bosses.
Artists are usually drawn to assistantship roles as sources of paid work for their often narrowly focused skills, sometimes from interest in their employer’s art and sometimes from hopes of exposure to the apparently out-of-reach inner world of art their boss represents.
In addition to works by the artists, each of the artist's employers has also been asked to provide a letter detailing their assistant's role in the studio to be presented alongside the work. Some are forthright, others more protective, others did not respond. Each response, or lack thereof, is telling, as some artists are more open about this system than others. Some are known for crediting the work of their assistants, or even representing their assistants' work as an agent. Other artists are less open, often requiring new hires to sign strict confidentiality agreements and not publicly acknowledging using assistants at all.
Many interested artists felt unable to participate in these shows due to concerns about their existing relationship with a current employer. Others had the full support of their bosses – in a humorous reversal of roles Alison Gill will spend a day making sculptures on site assisted by her erstwhile employer Gavin Turk, alongside whom she will be inviting the visiting public to a taste of the experience of assistantship. In one of the exhibitions, other artists who have assisted the assistants will also have a chance to show their work.
The exhibitions thus aim to throw light upon and initiate debate on the obscure reality of assistantship in today’s art world, without providing any ready opinions. You are invited to see the work in each of the shows, form your own questions, and draw your own conclusions.
The Shows:
> Off The Clock - Highlights: in The Magnificent Basement...
> Off The Clock: in Mile End Art Pavilion...
> Off The Clock: 92Y Tribeca Art Gallery, New York...
> Off The Clock: Like The Spice Gallery, New York...
03/08/2010
HACKNEY WOOD ART PRIZE & AUCTION
5th August till 2nd September
Private View - Thursday 5th August, 18:00 - 22:00
Awards Ceremony - Thursday 2nd September at 19:00
The Residence gallery celebrates its 5th year anniversary with this flammable awards show and auction, HACKNEY WOOD. Going back to basics, the works will be aptly forged from the symbolic material of WOOD. This primal substance has served ancient cultures with supposed magical powers and protection, and was believed to be the shaper of all things. Read More...
28/07/2010
THE CANYONS OF YOUR MIND - THE DESERT OF YOUR GUT On the 30th July, as part of the Hackney Wicked Art Festival, the combined talents of Cosmicmegabrain (itinerant curators) and the Sit Down Affair (itinerant restauranteurs) will harmonise in an unparalleled event – A Fabulous Dinner Party with Art Music & Performance. Read More...
25/07/2010 Matt Blackler '200 Fruitboxes/Gone West' Our next show in The Magnificent Basement is Matt Blackler '200 Fruitboxes/Gone West'. Opening view 7 to 9.30pm Saturday 21st August. Open by appointment until 27th August. "A MacGyver of sorts, Matt Blackler creates artworks using outmoded and labour intensive techniques that playfully hark back to a romanticised past. His diverse practice ranges from still images to kinetic machines, with his artworks often presenting the aesthetics of their production. Quirky and candid, these display strategies (de)mystify Blacker's complex investigations, luring viewers into his arcane and obscure practice..." Read more... |  |
21/07/2010 Daryl Brown 'The Judo Series' Our next show in The Magnificent Basement is Daryl Brown 'The Judo Series'. Opening view Saturday 24th July from 7:00pm till 9:30pm. "Daryl Brown is a highly talented young sculptor working hard and successfully in developing his personal sculptural language. Counterbalancing organic and stereo metric shapes, he combines and contrasts materials and surfaces, construction and shaping in a free and thrilling way to build his quasi-figures..." Read more... | |
21/07/2010
Stratford Everyday 25 July – 8 August 2010
Opening Event: Sunday 25 July, 3 – 5pm
> Stratford Everyday website
Stratford Everyday is an exhibition that celebrates the communities that live in Stratford and the places that shape their lives. It includes art works inspired by everyday locations in Stratford - the bus station, the cemetery, the Greenway and many others.
All of the contributing artists either live or work in Stratford, or have a strong connection to the area.
Artists include: Josiah Akushie, Anna Baker, Colegrave Primary School & Glocal Films, Ting-Ting Cheng, Maria-Theresa Fernandes, Grace Gilbey, Lisa Muten, Amanda Westbury, the Greenhill Centre, the Professional Development Group at Rosetta Art Centre, users of the Hibiscus Community Centre, and young people at the Carpenters & Docklands Youth Centre.
Stratford Everyday is a visual arts heritage project initiated by English Heritage Outreach, celebrating London 2012 and the communities that live in East London.
For more information on English Heritage Outreach visit:
> english-heritage.org.uk/community
For further information on the exhibition contact:
> matthewkrishanu@gmail.com
Exhibition information:
Open Sun 25 July, Sat 31 July, Sun 1 Aug, Thurs – Sun 5, 6, 7, & 8 Aug
Opening Times 12 – 6pm
Admission Free
Venue:
Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, London E15 1BN
20/07/2010
New photographs added of Lubomirov and Batiste in The Magnificent Basement. See more...
17/07/2010
New photographs added of Sharon Gal's Venus Rising in The Magnificent Basement. See More...
10/07/2010
ALISN talks to Resonance FM ALISN talks with Sharon Gal on Resonance FM's ClearSpot, speaking about their past, present and future. Listen to the recording:
> ALISN on Resonance FM's ClearSpot - 24th June 2010 (1h 06mins - MP3 26.8MB)
06/07/2010
Journalist Candice Elizabeth Ashby writes about ALISN ALISN: A resource for young artists No one expects to leave university with an art degree and immediately land a place in a major gallery.
Read full article:
> ALISN: A resource for young artists - by Candice Elizabeth Ashby