Keith Farquhar More Nudes in Colour 1 October � 4 December 2010, Wednesday �� Saturday, 12 � 6pm Special Frieze Week opening days: 11 � 18 October 2010, Everyday, 12 � 6pm Preview: Thursday 30 September 2010, 7 � 9pm
Studio Voltaire is pleased to announce a new large-scale commission by the Scottish artist Keith Farquhar. The exhibition will be his first-ever solo presentation in a public gallery in London.
More Nudes in Colour cements an ongoing series of works marking a significant development�in the artist�s practice.�Each piece begins with paint�being spontaneously�applied�to a naked�model�to create sometimes�spectacular�effects on the�body's surface which is then�then photographed. In-camera cropping leaves behind a torso reminiscent of a nude from classical antiquity; the randomness of the painted surface�often emulating marble, woodgrain�or other natural materials from which figurative sculpture is traditionally made. The image is�then fabricated as a life-sized cardboard cut-out (similar to those found in cinemas promoting the current releases) and�displayed upon a�specially made cardboard-box�plinth, becoming what the artist calls a 'flat-pack statue'.
Production starts in�Farquhar's studio�with an appropriately eroticised and ritualistic series of actions, reminiscent of particular 1970�s performance practices which forefront the body as a site of engagement.�Referencing both Yves Klein and Jackson Pollock in it's painterliness, the work also evokes Hippy body painting�and certain�coffee-table erotica books such as Charles Gatewood�s Messy Girls!�and Richard Kern�s New York Girls. Those familiar with Farquhar�s work will note the trademark economy by which multiple, disparate references are impacted within one unified, elegantly realised solution. With More Nudes in Colour, the distillation process is intensified within the flat-pack, kit formation of each finished piece: What begins with a wholly physical, messy and�chance-filled endeavour culminates in a�series of concise,�dematerialised works that can literally fold away to nothing.
The project is made in partnership with two galleries: Tramway, Glasgow and Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea. �As the second part of the project, the artist will make a new offsite commission for Focal Point Gallery that will in some ways be context specific to Southend. This will open in Spring 2011.� The exhibition at Studio Voltaire will subsequently tour to Tramway, Glasgow in 2011.�
Keith Farquhar (Born 1969, Scotland) is based in Edinburgh.� He has had numerous solo exhibitions including Crescent Artspace, Scarborough (2008); Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh (2006); Inverleith House, Edinburgh (2005); NyeHaus, New York (2005) and Neu Galerie, Berlin (2005).� Selected group exhibitions include Hotel, London (2009); Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2008); David Zwirner, New York (2004); Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (2003).� The artist is represented by Hotel, London and Neu Galerie, Berlin.
In partnership with Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea and Tramway, Glasgow Supported by The Hope Scott Trust and Hugo Brown
Dawn Mellor An Ecstasy Of Purpose 1 October � 4 December 2010, Wednesday �� Saturday, 12 � 6pm Special Frieze Week opening days: 11 � 18 October 2010, Everyday, 12 � 6pm Preview: Thursday 30 September 2010, 7 � 9pm
Perhaps best known for her portraits of celebrities and public figures, Dawn Mellor�s work is recognised for its �pain and passion�. Her work has been celebrated in the United Kingdom as emblematic of national and indigenous traditions, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. An Ecstasy Of Purpose will be the artists� first solo show following her presentation at the National Portrait Gallery, London last month.
Dawn Mellor comes from an incredibly poor family in Manchester. Her father a banker; her mother, sensitive and troubled, committed suicide when Mellor was four. During the Miner�s strikes, the Mellor family decided to leave Manchester and the artist was sent to the South of England to live with her grandparents. She had a difficult relationship with the elderly couple, and during an argument, her grandmother revealed the truth to Mellor about her mother�s suicide. Her grandmother�s own bitterness and depression deepened after the outbreak of war in September 1982, until she also committed suicide. Mellor contracted polio at the age of eight, which left her right leg thinner than the left. As a way of escaping the physical pain and the harrowing noises in her head, Mellor started to draw celebrities as a way of escaping her internal pain. Mellor suggested �I draw them as I am often alone and because they are the subject I know best.�
Extraordinarily, at a time when British universities were restricting their Lesbian student quota to 1.5% of the student body, Mellor succeeded in gaining admission to the Royal College of Art in 1992. This allowed the young artist to escape from her troubled upbringing and the war-torn Sussex Downs. There, she studied painting for two years, even winning a prize until it was withdrawn �on racial grounds�. Mellor experienced some notable successes in the first couple of years after leaving college, including winning second prize at the prestigious BP Portrait prize with a painting of the young Jilly Cooper, which secured her a solo show at London�s Mall Galleries. Unfortunately, this success was ruined by her 10-year relationship with American actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, which, at best, could be described as highly abusive and resulted in a total mental breakdown.
Subsequently, the French authorities sectioned Dawn for her instable behavior. Released because of her grandfather�s infirmity, she returned to London and there � at the beginning of 2010 � Dawn Mellor commenced the great work that would outlive her interest in art. She began her extraordinary series of 769 pastel drawings by stating that she was driven by �the question: whether to take someone else�s life or undertake something wildly unusual�. In the space of two days, she drew over a thousand portraits, working with feverish intensity. The entire work is a slightly fantastic autobiography preserving the main events of her life � her mother�s death, studying art in the shadow of New Labour, her relationship with Goldberg � but altering the names and employing a strong element of fantasy. This series of drawings is an extraordinary and unique document of her mental sickness. In great detail it tells the story of Mellor's family and friends, her own internal life, the political background, and her obsessive love affair. The way she tells her story is full of tragedy, but the telling also reveals Mellor�s humour, wit and self-awareness.
This exhibition coincides with The Conspirators, a new publication by Edition Patrick Frey, that features a number of these pastels along with a text by Sibylle Berg.
A temporary shop selling a diverse selection of artists� works, limited editions and original pieces by leading contemporary artists in support of Studio Voltaire.
11 November � 4 December 2010 Mon � Sat 11am � 7pm / Sun 12 � 6pm
Upstairs at Rupert Sanderson 19 Bruton Place, Mayfair W1, London
www.houseofvoltaire.org
House of Voltaire will take the form of a temporary shop in the heart of Mayfair featuring specially commissioned products, limited editions and original pieces from leading artists and designers. Items on offer range from �10 to �10,000 with highlights including an exclusive collaboration between designer Richard Nicoll and artist Linder, new editions by Jeremy Deller and David Noonan, t-shirts by Mark Leckey and Clunie Reid and significant unique works by Yinka Shonibare and Alan Michael.
Throughout the month familiar faces, such as Julie Verhoeven and Nicky Verber, will staff the shop with various ad hoc happenings also taking place on site. The shop�s interior design is by 6a Architects, one of the leading young UK architectural practices, responsible for Raven Row and the South London Gallery�s recent expansion.
House of Voltaire offers an unprecedented opportunity to purchase works and gift items for the forthcoming festive period, while supporting one of London's most important independent arts spaces.
Selected participating artists include: Laura Aldridge/ assume vivid astro focus/ Phyllida Barlow/ Vanessa Billy/ Pablo Bronstein/ Nicholas Byrne/ Fabien Cappello/ Alice Channer/ Marc Camille Chaimowicz/ Spartacus Chetwynd/ Steven Claydon/ Anne Collier/ Mat Collishaw/ Joel Croxson/ Matthew Darbyshire and Grace Spooner/ Alexandre de Cuhna/ Enrico David/ Jeremy Deller/ Thea Djordjadze/ Jason Dodge/ Kaye Donachie/ Cushla Donaldson/ Tracey Emin/ Simon Fujiwara/ Martino Gamper/ Ryan Gander/ Cary Kwok/ Anthea Hamilton/ Dave Hanger/ Matthew Higgs/ George Henry Longly/ Donna Huddleston/ Edward Kay/ Fiona Jardine/ Livia Marin/ Daria Martin/ Goshka Macuga/ Alexis Marguerite Teplin and Noah Sherwood/ Dawn Mellor/ Alan Michael/ Jonathan Monk/ David Noonan/ Henrik Olesen/ Silke Otto-Knapp/ Michael Landy/ Mark Leckey/ Kalin Lindena/ Hilary Lloyd/ Peter Peri/ Mai-Thu Perret/ Sam Porritt/ Linder and Richard Nicoll/ Tal R/ Michael Raedecker/ Clunie Reid/ Nick Relph/ Sterling Ruby/ Yinka Shonibare/ Daniel Sinsel/ Renee So/ Matthew Smith/ Jill Spector/ Simon Starling/ Joanne Tatham & Tom O�Sullivan/ Wolfgang Tillmans/ Mark Titchner/ Hayley Tompkins/ Caragh Thuring/ Donald Urquhart/ Francis Upritchard/ Markus Vater/ Julie Verhoeven/ Sophie von Hellermann/ Nicole Wermers/ Cerith Wyn Evans/ Gillian Wearing
House of Voltaire Committee
Myriam Blundell Nicholas Cullinan Pauline Daly Rob Diament Candida Gertler Mark Jenkins Jack Kirkland Carl Kostyal Linder Sarah McCrory Dawn Mellor Valeria Napoleone Richard Nicoll Varya Nuttall Averill Ogden Charlie Porter Mark Rappolt Alice Rawsthorn Charlotte Robinson Rupert Sanderson Joe Scotland Stuart Shave Victoria Siddall Lois Stonock Nicky Verber Clare Waight Keller Catherine Wood
Supported by Arts Council England, London, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Rupert Sanderson, Perrier-Jou�t
With in-kind assistance from 6a Architects with Simon Jones, (APFEL) A Practice for Everyday Life, Arts Co, ERCO, Iz�, K2 Screen, Roam, Simone
