Stephen Willats's Blog, page 2

Blue View

Almost Bliss private view

CHELSEA space’s tinted windows succinctly announced the launch of our new show   Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue 

private view crowd

The show revolves around Derek Jarman’s notes for his seminal late work Blue and is part of Jarman2014 a year long cycle of events, exhibitions, and screenings to celebrate the life and work of Derek Jarman and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his premature death from AIDS related illnesses. The whole season opened on January 22nd with the excellent exhibition Pandemonium curated by Mark Turner at Kings College. With our installation opening one week later it was hard to know whether we would draw a crowd but CHELSEA space very quickly filled up with old and new friends.

Stathis Lagoudakis, Janet Hodgson, David Gothard and Keith Collins

artist Mark Wallinger and CHELSEA space Director Donald Smith with Derek Jarman's Blue print

We were very pleased to see artist Mark Wallinger whose installation for the  1994 exhibition Every Now and Then  had been an important lodestone for the CHELSEA space show.

Peter Fillingham, James Mackay, and Stephen Farthing

Another important curatorial reference point was Peter Fillingham’s and Keith Collins’ installation for the 1999 exhibition Stimuli   at the With de Witte in Rotterdam. Peter, a close friend of Derek Jarman who collaborated on many projects, is seen here at the private view with the producer of Blue, James Mackay, and the artist Stephen Farthing who is co-editor of the new Thames and Hudson publication Derek Jarman’s Sketchbooks

Roger Cook, Ed Webb-Ingall, and James Mackay

The other co-editor on the Sketchbooks book, Ed Webb-Ingall, was also at the private view and is seen here with film producer James Mackay and with artist, art historian, and sometime fashion model Roger Cook who played Christ in Derek Jarman’s film, The Garden. Blue (or Bliss as it was originally titled) was conceived as the 3rd part of a trilogy along with The Last of England and The Garden, Jarman’s powerful personal reflections on the state of the country in the late 1980s.

Blue ramp at CHELSEA space

The prodigal returns - Donald Smith greets Eddie Farrell

designer Mady Neighbour

We were surprised and pleased to see one of our longtime collaborators, the artist Eddie Farrell who has recently returned from living in Berlin. Eddie worked with us on our our very first show Gary Woodley:Impingement No.47 as part of the performance Food Eating. He then played a major role as audio/visual artist-archivist for our Bruce McLean show Process Progress Project Archive in 2006 and in the same year created a day of performances and events entitled Acting Eating Reading Drinking Meeting as part of our exhibition Rehearsing: Samuel Beckett. We were also delighted to see designer Mady Neighbour who worked with Derek Jarman on the theatre designs for Beckett’s Waiting For Godot starring Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson at the Queens Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue in 1991.

Lisson Gallery's Nicholas Logsdail

artist Sinead Bligh with gallerist Laure Genillard

Lynton Talbot and Hana Noorali

In 1967 Derek Jarman was invited by Nicholas Logsdail to be in the inaugural exhibition at the Lisson Gallery and it was a great pleasure to see Nicholas at our private view. He arrived with Laure Genillard, who curated Aftermath: Objects From Projects at CHELSEA space in 2011, and Lynton Talbot and Hana Noorali who, with Elena Crippa, curated our 5th anniversary exhibitions and events Should I Stay or Should I Go  in 2010.

Collector and artists' books dealer William Allen with Peter Fillingham and Karl Lydon behind.

Daryl Biggs and Nicky Carvell

Leslie Foxcroft and Alan Charlton

As always it was great to see the polychrome vision of Daryl Biggs and Nicky Carvell, Nicky showed with us in Red White and Blue; Pop Punk Politics Place which also included Derek Jarman’s Super-8 film Jordan’s Dance, famous for its inclusion in his dystopian feature film Jubilee. As Derek Jarman’s Blue is, in part, a tribute to Yves Klein it was also a great pleasure to see Britain’s own master of the monochrome, artist Alan Charlton, whose new show opens at Annely Juda Fine Art on 13th February

vitrine viewing

Thanks to everyone who attended the private view and made the event a success.

Thanks for 2013 and Looking Forward to Bliss in the Coming Year.

cover for Derek Jarman's 'Bliss' notebook. courtesy Estate of Derek Jarman

As we prepare for our first exhibition of 2014, Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue, CHELSEA space would like to say thank you to everyone who made 2013 another great year in our exhibition history.

CHELSEA space #48: second reflection / symmetrical contents STURTEVANT and SECONDEDITIONS

We started last year with second reflection / symmetrical contents STURTEVANT and SECONDEDITIONS  which turned out to be the London prelude to the controversial Sturtevant’s first major UK solo show in a public gallery  Leap Jumps and Bumps at the Serpentine Gallery.

Henry Moore Institute curator Pavel Pyś talks Sturtevant and SECONDEDITIONS in the Lecture Theatre at Chelsea

Prior to the CHELSEA space show, between September and December 2012,  Sturtevant’s ‘Duchamp Bicycle Wheel’ 1969-73 was shown at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. We were very fortunate that the curator of the HMI display, Pavel Pyś, accepted our invitation to come to Chelsea to talk about the contemporary relevance of Sturtevant with the artists Markus Eisenmann and Elizabeth Peebles. We are particularly grateful to Markus and Elizabeth for working closely with Sturtevant to make our show possible and for presenting their own superb collaborative works as SECONDEDITIONS.

CHELSEA space #40 'Ideal Home' curated by Donald Smith including the 1913 Omega Workshops rug (far left)

Sturtevant’s Bicycle Wheel 1969-73 at the Henry Moore Institute crossed over with their excellent exhibition 1913: The Shape of Time to which CHELSEA space loaned an Omega Workshops rug attributed to Frederick Etchells and made for the 1913 Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition. Donald Smith included this important item from our collection in the CHELSEA space exhibition Ideal Home  in 2011, we also loaned the rug to the Courtauld Institute in 2009 for the exhibition Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-1919 and it is currently on loan to Le Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris for the exhibition Decorum: Tapis et tapisseries d’artistes which runs until 9th February.

Dobells Record Shop, 77 Charing Cross Road

Following Sturtevant and Second Editions came Dobells Jazz Folk Blues dedicated to the specialist London record shop serving musicians and fans alike from 1946-1992. CHELSEA space would like to thank Leon Parker from British Record Shop Archive for his enthusiasm for the idea of an exhibition about Dobells and his tenacity in helping us obtain loans for the show. We are particularly grateful to the Museum of London for loans of Dobells’ shop fixtures and fittings from their collection and all of those who lent us material from private collections, including many former Dobells staff from the 1940s onwards. We were very lucky to be able to exhibit original photographs from two of the great music photographers, Val Wilmer  and David Redfern, we also had a fascinating talk from former Dobells ‘Saturday boy’  Brian Peerless. The show was hugely popular and it was great to hear all of the incredible anecdotes about this much loved and lamented music institution.

Oswaldo Maciá's 'Library of Cynicism' olfactory tanks

In the summer CHELSEA space presented a new olfactory–acoustic sculptural composition by Oswaldo Maciá entitled The Library of Cynicism:the archeology of sound and smell. For CHELSEA space’s first exploration into the olfactory in art, Oswaldo Maciá took the ancient Greek figure of Diogenes as a starting point to “undo assumptions of truth and belief through a sound and smell experiment with objects”. Oswaldo Maciá’s film of the installation can be viewed here.

curators Kate Ross and Daisy McMullan in front of a painting by Dan Sturgis at CHELSEA space

artist and archivist Karen Di Franco

The summer was also a period of change in the personnel at CHELSEA space with curator Kate Ross completing her research time at CHELSEA space and Daisy McMullan being appointed as the new Chelsea Arts Club Trust Research Fellow. Kate and Daisy had worked together at CHELSEA space as curatorial assistants and administrators, also establishing our offsite project with the Gate Theatre Notting Hill, and co-curating the exhibition Surface at Chelsea Futurespace. We wish Kate well in her new role at the Jewish cultural centre JW3 and in her continuing work as the curator of the Notting Hill Arts Club. We also welcomed artist/archivist  Karen Di Franco as our new Programme Co-ordinator. Karen is currently working on a day of talks, performances, and screenings  for 14th February as part of the exhibition Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue.

Sir Peter Blake at his opening at Chelsea Futurespace

installation view of the Peter Blake show at Chelsea Futurespace

We also called time on our sister gallery, Chelsea Futurespace, this summer. After seven successful years and 30 exhibitions we and our sponsor, the property developer St James, agreed that the project was complete and we ended magnificently with a show of prints by Peter Blake. We are grateful to Sir Peter for such a superb finale, to St James for supporting this major project, to all of the artists for their generosity and brilliance, and to all those who visited the exhibitions.

Richard Wilson with CHELSEA space's Donald Smith during the installation of 'No Formulas'.

In September  we opened the new season with Richard Wilson: No Formulas a show of preparatory drawings, collages, maquettes, and prints. Richard was hugely generous with his time and energies, not least because our opening was only 3 days after his epic 1513: A Ships’ Opera  on the River Thames. He clearly thrives on hard work and a full diary so we wish Richard a busy 2014! We are also grateful to De La Warr Pavilion’s Jane Won who conducted a superb interview with Richard Wilson in the lecture theatre at Chelsea and wrote a great text for the No Formulas publication.

installation view of 'Nashville Calling' including the Hatch designed CHELSEA space poster

We finished our year with the hugely popular Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling bringing a Tennessee-based letterpress workshop founded in 1879 to London for their very first UK exhibition.

Hatch Show Print's Jim Sherraden giving a lecture at Chelsea a few hours after arriving in the UK

It was a great pleasure to work with Hatch Show Print‘s Master Printer, Jim Sherraden, who flew over especially for the show arriving just a couple of hours before his first lecture followed immediately by the CHELSEA space private view, a fantastic opening event that included live entertainment by top Nashville musicians.

Hatch private view with Nashville musicians Nedski and Mojo

Jim Sherraden in front of one of his monoprints at the Hatch private view

L-R Stephen Farthing RA, Jim Sherraden, and Hatch co-curator Jason Brown at the Royal Academy

Jim Sherraden meets artist Basil Beatty RA and curator Michael Hall at the Mall Galleries

Jim Sherraden with Helen Ingham at Central St Martins' letterpress studio in Kings Cross.

Jim Sherraden giving a gallery talk shortly before flying back to Nashville

Jet Lag clearly did not affect this American printmaker as he spent the week giving talks, visiting letterpress studios, and meeting friend old and new. After a frenetic week Jim left as he arrived, giving a gallery before heading to the airport (via the Chelsea Arts Club!). We owe Jim a huge debt of thanks. We are also grateful to our old friend Jason Brown who co-curated the show with CHELSEA space Director Donald Smith, and to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum who own and operate Hatch Show Print.

Nashville singer songwriters Amy Stroup and Trent Dabbs at CHELSEA space

Jim Sherraden wasn’t the only Nashville attraction in town during the Hatch Show Print exhibition: We were very lucky to be treated to a superb preview gig by Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup AKA Sugar and the Hi Lows

Stephen Mougin and Ned Luberecki at the CHELSEA space private view

and at the private view we received a Bluegrass masterclass from Nedski and Mojo (Stephen Mougin and Ned Luberecki).

Nigel Bents delivers his Letterpress Manifesto at CHELSEA space

Two Stepping at the lunchtime performance from Adrian R Royston and Richard Lamy

Other events during the show included a talk from designer and lecturer Nigel Bents and lunchtime music from boyleANDshaw‘s Adrian R Royston with Richard Lamy. Thank you to everyone who made Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling a perfect end to a great year.

Derek Jarman's super 8 camera. photo courtesy Estate of Derek Jarman

All CHELSEA space and Chelsea Futurespace publications are available from the University of the Arts London E-Store. The private view for our next exhibition Almost Bliss: Notes on Derek Jarman’s Blue  is on Tuesday 28th January 6-8.30pm, for information on the Jarman study day on 14th February contact Karen Di Franco at info@chelseaspace.org.

Happy New Year!

Today! Adrian R Royston Goes Country – Live Music 1pm

Adrian R Royston

Today, Wednesday 11th December, at 1pm one half of arts duo boyleANDshaw will be performing under the moniker Adrian R Royston as part of a new film project The Long Road to Nashville, with a new set of songs in his guitar case. described by comedian Stewart Lee as “George Formby singing Hank Williams” he will be joined by the mellifluous vocals of Keeley Forsyth (aka The Scuttler). Expect dreamy warped country afternoon treat.

03.12.13 A Strike – 04.12.13 A Talk

Strike 03.12.13

Because of the strike action organized by the UNISON, UCU and Unite unions it will not be possible for CHELSEA space to open on 3rd December. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Letterpress

However, CHELSEA space will be open again tomorrow, Wednesday 4th December, as usual from 11am – 5pm.

Then from 6 – 7.30pm Wednesday 3rd December Nigel Bents, Lecturer in Graphic Design, Chelsea College of Arts, will be discussing his Letterpress Manifesto in an illustrated talk examining the tactile nature of the letterpress process and how this affects our understanding of typography. This event is part of the CHELSEA Public Programme of events for Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling  , it’s free but space is very limited so RSVP to info@chelseaspace.org is essential.

Elvis's first poster commissioned from Hatch Show Print by Colonel Tom Parker in 1956

HATCH SHOW PRINT: Nashville Calling Private View

HATCH SHOW PRINT: Nashville Calling kicked off with a fantastic event on Friday night for a delegation from the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation, organised by David Nicholson and with fantastic music from Sugar and the Hi-lows (Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup).

Sugar and the Hi-lows perform for the Friday night crowd

David Nicholson with a delegate from the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation

We were joined by Joe Walters (aka Texas Joe) who kindly provided us with his Jerky for the Private Views, in packaging designed by Hatch Show Print.

Joe Walters with his Beef Jerky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Designer Steve Thomas joined us for the evening. He has shown with us before for his shows Big Biba and other stories at CHELSEA space and Prints ‘R’ Us at Chelsea Futurespace.

Steve Thomas in the main gallery space

The exhibition got off to a great start with the Private View on Tuesday night at CHELSEA space.

Jim Sherraden, manager and curator of Hatch Show Print, landed in the UK  on Tuesday afternoon – first to give a lecture to Graphic Design students at Chelsea (and a few lucky members of the public) and then to attend the Private View.

The calm before the storm: Jim Sherraden (second from right) sees the exhibition and publication for the first time, with curators Donald Smith and Jason Brown, and Steve Mougin practices the guitar

The lecture theatre was packed to hear Jim talk through the history of Hatch Show Print, the design and letterpress printing process and his love of design, history and music.  His lecture was full of great advice, generosity and encouragement for the next generation of designers.

'Preservation through production' Jim talks to the students at Chelsea College of Arts

The Private View had a great atmosphere with friends, old and new.  Nedski and Mojo (on banjo and guitar) flew in specially to play for us, and we had a packed crowd at the gallery enjoying their music.

Nedski and Mojo (Ned Luberecki, banjo and Steve Mougin, guitar) play to a packed audience

Ned Luberecki and his wife came to the exhibition, and were delighted to find their wedding poster, printed by Hatch Show Print on the main wall of window-card sized posters.

Ned and Kelley (centre in the pink dress) with friends from Nashville in front of the main wall of posters

Curator Jason Brown (centre) with Musicians Ned and Steve

From one pop culture icon to another: fashion designer Lloyd Johnson, who showed with CHELSEA space two years ago #42 Lloyd Johnson The Modern Outfitter along with documentary maker Paul Tickell, whose film ‘Punk and the Pistols’ featured in our 2012 show #47 Red White and Blue.

Lloyd Johnson (centre) admires the poster wall in the main gallery space

Paul Tickell, director of 1991 documentary 'Punk and the Pistols'

CHELSEA space was packed, with some of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had.

Private View crowds enjoying the music

Crowds outside the gallery

Most of all, the Private View was great fun.  Luckily, Jim Sherraden is in town all week, giving talks and lectures.  He will be back at CHELSEA space on Saturday to give a talk and there are a few places left.

Donald Smith (left) with Jim Sherraden (right) with Steve Mougin behind

Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling is curated by Donald Smith and Jason Brown.  Jason used to drive the CHELSEA cab (a working London Black Cab with an art and Americana twist) before he moved to Nashville.

Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling is on at CHELSEA space until 14th December 2013.  Check on twitter for news and events using the #NashvilleCalling hashtag.

A Nashville Icon On The Road Again

Richard Wilson proposal drawing for 'Hang on a minute lads...' 2011

Our brilliant Richard Wilson exhibition No Formulas continues at CHELSEA space and we are eagerly awaiting Richard’s public talk with Jane Won, curator at the De la Warr Pavilion, on the 18th October (click here for details and booking info). Meanwhile we are busily working on our next exhibition Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling 

Jason Brown at Hatch Show Print's old store on Nashville's Lower Broadway

The idea for a show of iconic American letterpress prints came about when our Director of Exhibitions, Donald Smith, went to visit his old friend Jason Brown who had moved from London to Nashville in 2011/12. Jason took Donald to visit Hatch’s impressive workshop and store nestled amongst the ‘Honky Tonk’ music bars on Nashville’s Lower Broadway and he could immediately see the potential for a show at CHELSEA space.

Leonard Cohen poster. copyright: Hatch Show Print

Hatch is a logical addition to the strand of Donald Smith’s CHELSEA space programme that includes exhibitions such as Ready Steady Go: Scooter Style and Urban Dreams ; Burro: I Feel Alright ; A Riot Of Our Own ; Mick Jones: The Rock & Roll Public Library ; Jazzonia & the Harlem Diaspora ;   Process: The Working Practices of Barney Bubbles ; Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter ; Neue Slowenische Kunst 1984 – 1992 ; Red White and Blue: Pop|Punk|Politics|Place ; and Dobells Jazz Folk Blues. Donald also saw an opportunity to add a new dimension to his trans-Atlantic correspondence with his old friend and invited Jason Brown to co-curate the show with him.

A display of clothes and instruments at the Country Music Hall of Fame with Hatch posters behind

The Country Music Hall of Fame now own and operate Hatch Show Print and have recently been in the process of relocating it to a new home. We asked our man in Tennessee, collector/curator/writer Jason Brown, to keep us updated on the move:

Hatch's famous neon street sign

“In 1948, country music star Roy Acuff commissioned Hatch Show Print to produce his run of ‘Roy Acuff for Governor’ posters. That campaign didn’t work out too well for the Grand Ole Opry legend, but it did provide Will T. Hatch the funds to purchase the neon sign that has followed Nashville’s iconic letterpress shop through its changes of location. This past week that sign was fixed over the entrance at the new home of Hatch Show Print within the extension of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum”.

A truck carries a Hatch printing press from Broadway to its new home at the Country Music Hall of Fame

“This was a move of just a couple blocks, from Lower Broadway amongst the Honky Tonks and boot stores, but a feat that involved 134 years of history. I watched as Jim Sherraden, the manager and chief designer since the 80′s, and his small dedicated team of designer/printmakers packed up the store”.

Hatch woodblocks. photo: Jason Brown

“Over 10,000 woodblocks and photo plates, the equipment, the tools, the posters, the inks, the ephemera, all loving packed for removal…and of course, the two Hatch cats Huey and Maow”.

poster for Mumford and Sons. copyright: Hatch Show Print

technicians moving the Hatch presses into their new location

“The largest press, the Miehle 29 weighing at over 10,000 lbs. and used for the bigger print runs for the likes of BB King and Mumford & Sons, was moving on”.

Master Printer Jim Sherraden walks through the old Hatch print shop on Lower Broadway

“I’m going to miss the creaky floorboards, the posters displayed floor to ceiling and especially that distinctive and not unpleasant smell of the inks, blocks and presses stained into the fabric of the building. But I’m excited for Hatch and the opportunities at the new location. Visitors will be able to watch the posters roll off the presses in the larger custom designed workshop, there will be a gallery featuring the Monoprints of Master Printer Jim Sherraden, a retail store and also the Hatch Show Print Center for Design offering demonstrations and workshops. They reopen on 12th October”.

Loretta Lynn '50 Years' poster designed and printed by Hatch Show Print

The future of the store that rolled out posters for Hank Williams, Elvis, Coldplay and Jack White is in safe hands. Celene Aubry will take over as manager and Jim Sherraden will concentrate on his printmaking and ensure that their mantra, ‘Preservation through production’ continues”. This is a big year for Hatch. Along with the move, Jim Sherraden has been honored with the Silver Medal from the Nashville Chapter of the American Advertising Federation and also the Distinguished Artist Award from the state of Tennessee.

poster for 'Hatch Show Print: Nashville Calling'. copyright Hatch Show Print

“On 13th November the first ever UK exhibition of Hatch Show Print will open at Chelsea space. You will see over 100 posters, plus ephemera, and discover the history of this great American poster Shop….and Jim Sherraden…you may meet him. He will be there.”

Jason Brown, Nashville, Tennessee

Richard Wilson’s No Formulas private view + 1513: A Ships’ Opera

Richard Wilson talks with Will Alsop and Don Grant at the No Formulas private view

This year's model: private view visitors with maquettes by Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson’s No Formulas opened with an excellent private view on Tuesday 17th September.

Lights, Steam-Action! Richard Wilson's epic 1513: A Ships' Opera on the River Thames

still smiling: Richard Wilson at CHELSEA space

Although the private view was only 3 days after his epic 1513: A Ships’ Opera  on the River Thames, Richard was in excellent form and clearly thrives on extremely hard work and a very full diary!

Tate curator Andrew Wilson with artist Richard Wilson

Directors' meeting: De La Warr Pavilion's Stewart Drew with Henry Moore Institute's Lisa Le Feuvre

artist Richard Wilson with architect Will Alsop

Humphrey Ocean

It was great to see lots of support for Richard and meet up with some old friends

Gary Woodley, Donald Smith and Oswaldo Maciá

The Block's Matt Fitts admiring Richard Wilson's maquettes

The past and the future of CHELSEA space exhibitions were represented: it was lovely as always to see Gary Woodley whose exhibition  Impingement No 47 was the very first CHELSEA space show back in 2005, whilst Oswaldo Oswaldo Maciá’s Library of Cynicism was our most recent show and our 50th at CHELSEA space. TV Monitor guru and Director of The Block Matthew Fitts will be curating a show for us in June 2014.

Futurecity Director Mark Davy

De la Warr curator Jane Won with artist Sean Dower

Stephen Farthing talks with Steve Thomas

Karl Lydon, Sally Bannayi, and Keith Collins

just published: Derek Jarman's Sketchbooks

Stephen Farthing and Keith Collins (seen in the private view photos above) have been working together on the new Thames and Hudson book Derek Jarman’s Sketchbooks which was featured in a recent CHELSEA space blog (read the blog archive here). Stephen and Keith met through CHELSEA space Director Donald Smith and we are very proud to be associated with this important book. The concurrent publication of Jarman’s sketchbooks and the opening of Richard Wilson’s exhibition of proposals, maquettes, sketches, and scores proves there is a very strong interest in preparatory materials and the importance of drawing. Richard Wilson’s title No Formulas also points to his extraordinarily diverse approaches to drawing and the openness of his ideas.

Thomas Zatorski with Richard Wilson's scores and proposal for 1513: A Ships' Opera

Richard Wilson’s 1513: A Ships’ Opera was produced in collaboration with Zatorski and Zatorski and we were delighted to see Thomas Zatorski at the CHELSEA space private view.

smoke from the big guns of HMS Belfast during 1513 A Ships' Opera

Tower Bridge opened for its longest recorded time as part of 1513: A Ships' Opera

proposal for 1513: A Ships' Opera

Richard Wilson’s No Formulas at CHELSEA space is an exploration of proposals, maquettes, sketches, and scores in an attempt to better understand creative processes and the ideas behind finished artworks and performances. Although the proposal for 1513: A Ships’ Opera was made well in advance of the event and is an imaginary scenario, it is incredible how this speculative drawing/collage accurately captured the dramatic atmosphere and dynamic activity of the live performance.

Richard Wilson ‘A Ships’ Opera’ Tower Bridge Saturday 14th + ‘No Formulas’ private view CHELSEA space Tuesday 17th

Richard Wilson sketch for a Ships' Opera

This has been an incredibly busy period for the artist Richard Wilson culminating in 1513 A Ships’ Opera on the River Thames and the exhibition No Formulas at CHELSEA space

The Thames Festival documentation says “1513 A Ships’ Opera is a spectacular night-time, water-borne performance for the 2013 Mayor’s Thames Festival, staged by an armada of historic vessels from the age of sail, steam and diesel. A live, moving operatic concerto of ships’ whistles, bells, horns, sirens and cannon-fire will recreate the lost voices of the Thames in a spectacular show of sound, light, and steam in the Pool of London at Tower Bridge on 14 September 2013. The opera is collaboration between twice Turner Prize-nominated, Richard Wilson (UK), and Thames-based artists, Zatorski+Zatorski (UK)”. 



This incredible event can be viewed from the banks of The Thames at Tower Bridge / The Pool of London




14th September 2013



19.45 Bridge lift. Vessels go through and turn to hold, in formation, against the tide.



19.45-20.30 steam whistles/ horns/ bells/ simulated cannon sounding



20.45 Bridge lift. Vessels depart upper pool.


Personel and vessels:
Lightship 95 = Ansuman Biswas. Conducting the fleet + the Trinity Foghorn is on board
The Kent Vintage diesel Tug = Jem Finer + Miyako Narita. includes 16 ships air hooters + Ark Royal Hooter + Large 5 chime horn
The Barking Vintage Steam Tug = Sean Dower + 3 steam Whistles
The De Walvisch = Steve Noble + 8 varying sized Trinity ships bells
Steam Ship 56 = Rowland Humble and Steve Shiell = 16 Ships steam whistles/sirens/chimes
Steam Ship 96 = Aldo Z Wilson and Richard Wilson = 16 Ships steam whistles/sirens/chimes
HMS Belfast = Nick Sales + 6 Cannons Firing a total of 14 Bangs

Richard Wilson working on his exhibition at CHELSEA space

As if Richard wasn’t busy enough building steam hooters and conducting a flotilla of noisy ships, he has also been rushing back and forth to projects in Japan and France and has been working with us for his show No Formulas  which opens  with a private view next Tuesday, 17th September,  6-8.30pm.

Richard Wilson checks over his maquettes and models with CHELSEA space's Daisy McMullan

No Formulas focusses on Richard Wilson’s sketches, collages, proposals, scores, and preparatory models and gives a rare insight into his working practices. The works date from the 1980s right through to the scores and collage for 1513: A Ships’ Opera taking place only 3 days before the CHELSEA space private view. Tacitly the exhibition is also a tribute to those who have unconditionally supported Wilson’s practice and those who have commissioned and sponsored his epic projects with only these visualisations to go on!

All Things Must Pass

olfactory experiences at Oswaldo Macia's Library of Cynicism

The end of Oswaldo Maciá’s Library of Cynicism at CHELSEA space was the beginning of a series of changes for us at Millbank.

Peter Blake: Four Decades at Chelsea Futurespace

Following Oswaldo Maciá came the closing of the superb Peter Blake: Four Decades at Chelsea Futurespace. We are very grateful to Sir Peter and to Brad Faine for their careful selection of the works and planning of the installation with us, and to CCA Galleries and Paul Stolper Gallery for all their support in making this show possible.

Sir Peter Blake makes time to talk with Crimson O'Shea at the opening of his show at Chelsea Futurespace

The private view audience were stunned by the quality of the work but were also pleasantly surprised that Sir Peter so generously made time to individually greet everyone and sign their Chelsea Futurespace exhibition publications and other memorabilia. Sir Peter joked that this was the first event in a while where he hadn’t been asked to sign a copy of the Beatles Sgt Pepper’s album! Although both shows have now ended it is still possible to purchase the exhibition publications. For the link to Oswaldo Macia: Library of Cynicism click here and for Peter Blake: Four Decades click here

View of the Grosvenor Waterside development from Chelsea Futurespace including the water sculpture by Ekkehard Altenberger and building by MAKE architects with embedded artwork by Clare Woods

Sadly, the close of the Peter Blake show is also the finale of Chelsea Futurespace as our contract with St James and the Berkeley Group has come to an end after seven years. CHELSEA space Director Donald Smith was first approached by property developer St James and the cultural placemaking consultancy Futurecity in 2005 to put forward a proposal for the use of a large public space within a new residential development at Chelsea Bridge. Donald proposed an exhibiting space to showcase the staff and alumni of Chelsea College of Art and Design and invited honoured guest artists from outside of the college. The initial contract was for five years but we successfully renegotiated for a further two years.

Stephen Farthing 'Thames & Hudson' 2005-6 from his Chelsea Futurespace exhibition 'Painting The Atlantic'

Chelsea Futurespace opened in April 2006 with an exhibition by Stephen Farthing which featured a 10 metre long painting of the Atlantic Ocean, we finally closed on 28th July 2013 with Peter Blake: Four Decades. In seven years we made 30 exhibitions at Chelsea Futurespace to add to the 50 exhibitions that we have made at CHELSEA space between 2005 and 2013. We are very grateful to everyone involved in the project, particularly the exhibiting artists. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all of the staff and residents at Grosvenor Waterside and especially thank Futurecity’s Mark Davy and St James’ Paul Pritchard who worked with us all of the way through this major project.

curator Kate Ross with CHELSEA space Director Donald Smith

Curator Kate Ross’s Research Fellowship with CHELSEA space is also now complete. Kate worked with us on the CHELSEA space shows DOME: Ralph Tubbs and the Festival of Britain; Red White and Blue: Pop | Punk | Politics | Place ; second reflection/symmetrical contents: Sturtevant and SECONDEDITIONS ; Dobells Jazz Folk Blues  and Oswaldo Maciá’s The Library of Cynicism: the archeology of sound and smell. Kate also co-curated Surface with Daisy McMullan at Chelsea Futurespace and helped co-ordinate Peter Blake: Four Decades. Kate and Daisy also worked together curating and co-ordinating our offsite installation project Gate Curate with the Gate Theatre Notting Hill. Kate has a busy online presence with her blog Curatorial Curiosities and she is also currently Curator at the Notting Hill Arts Club. CHELSEA space would like to thank Kate for all of her hard work, we look forward to her next projects and wish her well for the future.

curator Daisy McMullan with Sir Peter Blake

We are very pleased to announce that the 2013-14 CHELSEA space Research Fellow will be Daisy McMullan. Daisy, who studied curating at Chelsea College of Art and Design, will be known to many of our regular visitors as our CHELSEA space/Ashley Family Foundation Fellow. Thanks to a generous anonymous award via Chelsea Arts Club Trust Daisy is now able to continue her research and play a vital curatorial role within our small team. Daisy has many freelance projects and one of her important recent activities has been as co-curator of The Geometrics a series of exhibitions, publications and symposia dedicated to geometric pattern in textiles and associated media.

Karen Di Franco

And finally we are delighted to announce the appointment of artist and archivist Karen Di Franco as the new CHELSEA public programme Co-ordinator. Karen has worked with collections of materials and ephemera relating to artistic practice and book production and her recent projects include the development of Bookworks online archive and the touring exhibition and publication, Again, A Time Machine (2010-2012). She has been an independent researcher in the UK Web Archive at the British Library and currently works with the Contemporary Art Society as well as Chelsea Space.  Karen’s forthcoming projects include a talk about her work with archives to be held at Eastside Projects  Birmingham on Saturday 21 September. The event is organised by Elinor Morgan and coincides with Eastside’s launch of  Dear Lynda which was instigated by Matthew Higgs at White Columns New York and  had its inaugural UK show at CHELSEA space in July/August 2012.

Karen will be based at CHELSEA space and we are very much looking forward to her contribution to our public programme.

 

The next CHELSEA space exhibition will be Richard Wilson: No Formulas  Private View: 17th September 2013 6-8.30pm, show runs 18.09.13 – 26.10.13

Lynda Morris, Frank Sidebottom, Motorcycle Cultures, Richard Wilson, and Derek Jarman

Lynda Morris invitation to Dear Lynda at BQ, Berlin. photo of Lynda: David Lamelas

Lynda Morris’s Dear Lynda  exhibition and archive, shown at CHELSEA space in July 2012, is now opening at BQ in Berlin. The show was initiated by Matthew Higgs at White Columns in New York then came in a new version to CHELSEA space followed by shows in Dundee and Norwich. The brilliant image of Lynda on the Berlin invitation is by David Lamelas from Filmscript 1972

Frank Sidebottom performing during his 'CHELSEA space Is Ace' show in 2007

Matthew Higgs once very kindly gave CHELSEA space a great write up in Artforum when he named our exhibition Frank Sidebottom: CHELSEA space is Ace! as number 3 in his top ten exhibitions of 2007. Read the Review HERE. Frank’s creator, the late Chris Sievey, has posthumously been in the news recently because he is to be the subject of a feature length documentary Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story   by Steve Sullivan which is currently in production and is being supported by donations from the Frank-loving public.

Chris Sievey gets the keyboard working on his multi media mode of transport outside of CHELSEA space in 2007

Chris Sievey contemplating his next move.

When Gustav Metzger came to the Frank Sidebottom show at CHELSEA space he said “someone – the Arts Council – should be giving this man a lot of money”, clear recognition from the inventor of Auto Destructive Art, though finances certainly were  a problem for Chris Sievey even if his inventiveness knew no bounds. We wish Steve Sullivan well with this film  project which will give new insights into the life and work of a rare creative talent.

Two Triumphs on the Parade Ground

Some might argue that Frank Sidebottom’s inventions were not quite as beautifully engineered as some of the motorcycles seen on the Parade Ground outside of CHELSEA space this week.

Exhibit in the Motorcycle Cultures show in the Triangle space

The International Journal of Motorcycle Studies  have been holding a conference on Motorcycle Cultures with an exhibition co-curated by textile designer and biker  Caryn Simonson   and Space Station Sixty Five  gallery.

Biker dreams and La Rocka style at the opening of Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter at CHELSEA space in 2012

Ride Out and Rally for the CHELSEA space exhibition Ready Steady Go in 2006

The conference was conscious of its location citing the Ton Up Boys who would congregate around Chelsea Bridge and they also kindly referenced two CHELSEA space exhibitions: Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter and Ready Steady Go! Scooter Style and Urban Dreams. See more images of the CHELSEA space Ready Steady Go Ride Out and Rally from our exhibition archive Here

Richard Wilson studies for Hang On A Minute Lads I've Got A Great Idea

Richard Wilson 'Hang On A Minute Lads I've Got A Great Idea' De La Warr Pavilion 2012

Engineering encompasses many things but few artists have used it so inventively as Richard Wilson. CHELSEA space is delighted to say that our next exhibition is entitled Richard Wilson: No Formulas and looks at Wilson’s preparatory works for completed commissions and proposals for as yet unrealised projects. The show opens with a private view on September 17th and runs until the 26th October 2013. This show will also be an opportunity to reunite with our old friend  Jane Won from the De La Warr Pavilion who curated the exhibition Shin Azumi & Norman MacLaren at CHELSEA space in 2007.

Cover for one of Derek Jarman's notebook's for 'Blue'

Preparatory work, process and creative thinking will also be a part of an exhibition we are working on for early next year entitled ‘Almost Bliss’. This installation will be a contemplation on the filmmaker, writer, artist, and activist Derek Jarman and will include his working notebooks for what was to eventually become his seminal film Blue.

Derek Jarman's Bliss notebook and a 35mm test print for the film Blue from the CHELSEA space exhibition 'Turtle' in 2006

This is not the first time that we have referenced Derek Jarman’s Blue as we first showed the Bliss notebook in our 2006 exhibition Turtle: An Anarchic Salon , however, in the 2014 Almost Bliss installation it will be possible to see all of the pages of the Blue notebooks and examine more fully Jarman’s working practices, understand the creativity involved in the production of these handmade volumes, and their importance to Derek Jarman’s construction of his films.

cover for the new book 'Derek Jarman's Sketchbooks'

The Almost Bliss installation will also act as a reading room for the new Thames and Hudson publication Derek Jarman’s Sketchbooks which is launched in the autumn and is edited by our good friends artist Stephen Farthing and filmmaker Ed Webb-Ingall. This new book contains beautiful facsimile pages from a wide range of Jarman’s exquisite handmade journal/scrapbook/sketchbooks and will further enhance the understanding of the books we will be focussing on at CHELSEA space.

Simon Fisher Turner playing at CHELSEA space in 2006

The Almost Bliss installation will make reference to two previous installations – Peter Fillingham’s Blue rooms for the 1999 exhibition Stimuli at the Witte de With in Rotterdam, and Mark Wallinger’s 1994 installation for the Rear Window curated project Every Now and Then at Richard Salmon Gallery, London. The title of the installation refers to the word Bliss etched by Derek Jarman on a small piece of glass on the cover of one of his Blue notebooks and to the title of the 1990 album Almost Bliss by Simon Fisher Turner who worked on the soundtracks for many Derek Jarman films including Caravaggio, The Last Of England, The Garden, and Blue.