LCMS 9 | The Xhibit Issue

Who would have thought it? Ten years ago (when I held the honourable post of el presidente [at the Students’ Union]) that the exhibition I was so desperate to put on, would still be going on. And not just ‘going on’ but growing from strength to strength, gaining steam and galloping towards great things.

As one of the University’s first presidents with a fine art degree (not unsurprisingly) my focus for the year was an exhibition. To give students a chance to show off their work to the wider public; to view, in the same room at the same time, a mere sample of the huge talent pool the University held across London.

Thanks to a fantastic team, the first Xhibit was a great success. And having secured sponsorship with Jose Cuervo Tequila (to ensure we were all adequately lubricated), we were all set for the private view. That was a night I will never forget; a female exhibitor stripped in-front of her video wall and proceeded to be whipped by her boyfriend, the break dancers got busy flipping about on the main gallery floor; kicking a floor exhibit all over the shop, and as the guests’ minds and bodies loosened a series of porcelain pigs heads and trotters almost met their demise.

The University directors looked in some way amused, the dirty old men; whilst others watched on in horror as the proceedings worsened. I spent the night securing pigs trotters and trying to preserve the modesty of the half naked student.

Opening night aside, I was so proud of the standard of work – and that pieces were sold…even Lord David Puttnam made a purchase. I’m sure that this year’s exhibitors won’t fail to provoke, inspire and amuse: this is The University of the Arts after all…

Angela Robinson Former SU President

Intro

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This special edition of Less Common / More Sense pays tribute to Xhibit, the student exhibition for University of the Arts London which celebrates its tenth show since 1998 at the Arts Gallery in Davies street.

This year Xhibit had over 300 entries, 35 of which were chosen with the help of five judges, Tom Hunter (Artist & Senior Research fellow at LCC), Angela Robinson (former SU President in 1998), Eamonn Maxwell (Curator, The Arts Gallery), Samantha Allflatt (International Officer) and Oliver Fenwick (Education & Welfare Officer). Special thanks to the all at the Students’ Union who helped in making the tenth show become a reality.

Ronan HaughtonEditor Less Common / More Sense

Exhibition opens 15th March until 13th AprilMonday to Saturday 12 – 8pmSunday 12 – 6pm

Less Common / More Xhibit

Curator Article: He’s that Goth bloke carrying the painting up the stairs…

History

Let me set the scene. It’s spring 1994 and I’m sitting in the office of the course director of the Camberwell foundation course, being interviewed for a place on the course. I remember that he was fascinated with a page in my sketchbook, which dealt with the conflict in Northern Ireland. I don’t remember much about the work, except it involved broken glass! But I’ll never forget the look on his face and how much his reaction meant to me. Thirteen years later I’m now Curator at University of the Arts London, overseeing our Emerging Artists Programme. Now I find myself on the other side praising students or recent graduates for their work. But what has been my journey here and what exactly is the Emerging Artists Programme? I began on the foundation at Camberwell in September 1994 and had the best time ever. The people I met, the experiences we had ( going to the Prince Charles Cinema every Friday to watch art films being one of the most memorable) and my growing self-belief in the knowledge that I wanted to be an artist. So I applied to and got accepted onto the BA Joint Honours in Visual Arts (Painting & Graphic Design) at Camberwell. For two years I struggled to get to grip with painting and design. But in summer 1997 it all clicked. I started to make work for me, not to try and please tutors. My paintings became massive, tomb-like structures, dark and imposing. I abandoned any notion of design, but latched onto photography as way of responding to design briefs. Working with massive hand built pinhole cameras I produced images capturing the changing light and movement of people in various college locations – the most ambitious being a 60 hour documentation of the college library. Even though I was enjoying my practice, some-thing inside me had changed. I strongly believe to be an artist you have to be driven by your need to be in a studio making art all day, every day. Anything less than 100% commitment will lead to mediocrity. Being a full-time artist is an ambition that many people have, but few can actually realise. I kind of knew that my work was only ever going to be average and that I didn’t have the determination

to sustain it beyond college. So I decided to abandon being an artist and instead focus my efforts on helping other artists. As a line in the sand, I smashed all my work after my degree show! My first step on the path to where I am now was to get elected as a Vice President of the Students Union and the following year to become President of the Students Union. Being an officer of the Union was challenging, demanding, tiring, but ultimately a massively enjoyable role. I think I made a real difference to the life of others, even if in a tangential way. But one of my frustrations after two years was that most of the issues I had fought for would only be resolved after my time in office was over. So in 2000 I committed the ultimate sin —I became a member of staff at the University (then the London Institute). Many accused me of being poacher turned gamekeeper. But I knew that student politics were not for me, but working more directly with artists was. So I worked with gallery, events, and publications staff at the University. I began to realise that I needed to understand more about the challenges of working in a creative environment. That led me to undertake a MA in Museum and Gallery Management at City University London. On completing that I was appointed Curator of the University Art Collection. And within the last year I have launched and managed the Emerging Artists Programme for University of the Arts London.

The Emerging Artists Programme

When the London Institute changed name to University of the Arts London in May 2004 it was decided that the Arts Gallery and the University Art Collection should have a shared remit of working exclusively with University alumni (former students and staff). This gave the gallery and collection a very clear focus, which would allow for the University to support the work of recent graduates in a much more strategic manner. In 2006 we decided to launch a collectors programme, called the Artists and Collectors Exchange (the Exchange), as way of bringing artists and collectors together. Since then the Arts Gallery, University Art Collection and the

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Exchange have operated under the banner of the Emerging Artists Programme.Our plan for this programme is clear; to maximise the opportunities for recent university graduates to exhibit and sell their work – the two most important elements for artists and designers to sustain their careers. This programme is unique. No other art university/college takes such an active approach in supporting the practice of their graduates. We aim to work with 200 artists every year, across the various aspects of the programme (when we talk about artists in relation to the programme we include designers and other makers in that description). The Arts Gallery was established in 1993. Located on the ground floor of the University’s Davies Street building, with an ambitious programme of eight exhibitions per year. These exhibitions are a mixture of solo shows by artists a few years after they’ve left college, to annual survey shows like FutureMap and Xhibit. Over the past few years the gallery has become a destination venue, attracting hundreds of visitors every week, getting regular press coverage reviews as well as a growing number of people purchasing work. In 2006 the Gallery had major re-furbishment works (as part of the larger student hub project), which has improved the physical fabric of the space allowing the programme to become more professional and ambitious. Recent exhibitions have included Re-Stage (a photography show that included Tom Hunter and Bianca Brunner), Territory (a group show including Andrew Grassie, Nogah Engler and Mimei Thomspon) and the first major solo show by Alex Gough. The University Art Collection dates back to 1986 and comprises almost 600 works of art. Since 2004 the Collection has focused exclusively on acquiring work from student degree shows, as well as from alumni since 1986. As the Collection is a display collection (i.e. on view all the time) and due to physical constraints, it features mainly wall-based work (photography, illustration, painting, drawings, 2D design etc). Works from the Collection can be seen in most University buildings, as well as being on loan to other organisations and increasingly to external exhibitions. Unlike other art university/colleges, we purchase the work from artists at a market

rate. Likewise we are commissioning more works for the Collection as we try to incorporate non-fine art areas, such as theatre design, fashion and graphics. Alumni in the Collection include Rut Blees Luxemburg, Layla Curtis, Lee Maelzer and Tamsin Morse. Over the past few years more major collectors have been coming to exhibitions at the University. Similarly an increasing amount of alumni have been telling us that as the amount of artists practising in London has grown so the opportunities to sell work have become more limited. With these two observations in mind we decided to establish the Artists and Collectors Exchange. Using the model of a patrons scheme at a Gallery or Museum, the Exchange is a membership scheme that involves major collectors/supporters of emerging artists paying an annual fee to gain exclusive access to degree shows, exhibitions at the Arts Gallery, as well as a programme of visits to artists’ studios and private collections. Money raised through the Exchange is used to fund postgraduate fine art bursaries at the University – in December 2006 we awarded six bursaries, valued at £3,000 each, to students at Camberwell, Central Saint Martins and Chelsea. At the special previews of BA & MA shows in 2006 a substantial amount of student work was purchased by collectors involved in the Exchange. Artists for the Emerging Artists Programme are primarily selected from degree shows at the University, consultation with course directors. We also use collectors and curators from external organisations to help in the selection process. The whole programme is overseen by a board comprising of gallerists, curators and senior academic staff at the University. It is fair to say that we see more artists than we can possibly work with, so what criteria do we use to decide on who will benefit from the programme? First and foremost, we only work with students and alumni of the University. Secondly, we tend to focus upon graduates in the first ten years of their careers, as these are often the most difficult for artists. But the main indicator is quality – of ideas, of work and of individuality. Work has to be appealing on an aesthetic level, but also challenge and provoke reaction. We don’t deal in wallpaper! The reputation of the programme...

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...and the University is constantly increasing, which is a wonderful reward. An arts University should be influencing the wider artistic community and play a role in shaping debates in contemporary art practice. Through the Emerging Artists Programme we are doing just that. A good analogy for the programme is to think of it as an informal agency that works with people after they graduate from University of the Arts London, in the way that the Students’ Union take care of people when they are students at the University. We can’t support everyone but by working with a restricted amount of alumni every year, we hope to show people what can be done. So I’ve come a long way since that interview in Camberwell, but being able to make a difference to the lives of University of the Arts London alumni keeps me connected to practising artists in a way I had never envisaged. And yes, I do have the best job in the University.

Eamonn MaxwellCurator Arts Gallery

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University of the Arts London65 Davies StreetLondonW1K 5DAU.K.

Tel: 020 7514 6448Fax: 020 7514 6131

Email: [email protected]

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 12–8pm, closed Bank Holidays and between Christmas and New Year

How to get there:The Arts Gallery is located within the University’s headquarters building on Davies Street, which is just off Oxford Street and 100m from Bond Street tube station.

Arts Gallery >

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Past Profile I: Tom Hunter

Former student, tutor and ‘manual laborer’ Tom Hunter is currently an artist and senior research fellow at London College of Communication.He is best known in the world of art for his pho-tographic work, which deals with the community in which he lives. As one of this years judges for Xhibit ‘Less Common’ wanted to ask Tom about his time as a student and life after university.

Can you tell us about your time as a student at London College of Printing? What did you study?

I studied Photography at the L.C.P my first year was spent at the Elephant and Castle, the last two were spent in Clerkenwell. I had great time there, I had been out of education for 10 years by that point doing manual labouring jobs, and this made me a very keen student.

Do you think that things have changed in terms of what its like to be a student at UAL from what it was like then?

I think in some ways it was a lot easier when I was a student. I had a full grant which most of the other students had, so there wasn’t as much pressure financially. Also the number of students were a lot smaller so I think this made studying more relaxed.

Did you ever take part in any student exhibitions when you were a student at LCP?

I only took part in one student show when I was at college and the quality of my prints was pretty low. The shows the students put on now are of a far superior standard. I think this is because photography has really moved into the art world in the last 10 years. Todays students are much more clued up on exhibitions and how to present their work.

Can you tell us a bit about what you did after you graduated? A kind of brief summary of life from then until today?

Since leaving the LCP I took a year out carrying on with my own work, this seemed a bit of an up hill struggle. So I went and did a MA at the Royal College of Art in Photography. The work

I produced there went on to win the Kobal national portrait award at the National Portrait gallery and went on to the Saatchi collection and Show. Since then I have continued to work on my own projects, predominately based in my neighbourhood of Hackney. My last big commission was for the National Gallery, where I became the first artist to have a photography show in the last year.Do you think that student exhibitions still have the same bite in terms of challenging art, that they had back when you were a student, that is of course if they ever did have bite back then?

I think that in some ways student shows have more of a bite now than they had 15 years ago, especially in photography. When I was a student there was much more enthuses on commercial photography. Now photography is really in the contemporary art world, things have really moved on. Students are being much more adventurous in many ways.

What do you think of the work chosen for Xhibit ‘07?

I was really impressed by the standard of the Xhibit ‘07 entries. The work seems so much more mature and polished, it fits into the contemporary art world of today so much easier than any work I remember from my student days. It was great to see the range of different practises all coming together in one show. Photography felt a little isolated from other practises when I was studying, in a college and a world of its own. That’s what makes the Xhibit ‘07 so interesting for me, painting, sculpture, fashion, design, animation, ceramics and photography coming together, it opened my mind to a world of exciting possibilities. It is great that such good separate colleges can come together to show off such great talent in one place.

Interview by Ronan Haughton

Tom Hunter Woman Reading a Possession Order(1997)

Tom Hunter, The Way Home (2000)

Past Profile II: Richard Moon

Can you give us an overview of your life please? (We don’t ask for much do we!)

I was born in Gravesend in 1971 (yeah, I’m that old!) and didn’t decide to do an art degree until I was 27. Before that I’d been a graphic designer and for some of the time I was unemployed. I think the late start benefited me because by the time I started my foundation (actually it wasn’t a ‘foundation’ but a two day a week course called ‘portfolio preparation’ at Chelsea in 1998/1999) I’d already been painting as an amateur for a number of years and knew exactly what I wanted to do, whereas other people on foundation were often not so sure. So by the time I began my degree at Camberwell I was already quite focused and definitely benefited from experimenting in the different mediums and approaches that were encouraged during the time I spent at Camberwell. Whilst in my third year at Camberwell I applied to The Royal Academy and was lucky enough to get a place there in the year directly following leaving Camberwell (beginning October 2002). This was a very positive step forward in my career, not only for the extra experience of a further three years studying, but also as it opened up more possibilities in terms of contacts and support. Whilst in my first year I was invited to work for and help execute a large wall piece by Sol Lewitt at Tower Place (near the Tower of London) for Marsh and McLennan Companies, and in my second year interim show there (called “Premiums”) Charles Saatchi bought the two paintings I exhibited. Since graduation in June 2005 I have exhibited twice in New York, once in Vienna (which is still on actually: it’s called Salon Nouveau and closes on 29th March), many times in London, including a solo show at the Wyer Gallery, and am currently working towards a second solo show at the Anna Klinkhammer Gallery in Dusseldorf in June 2007.

When you were a student in 2002 you showed your work at Xhibit, how did you feel on the opening night?

Well, it was some time ago now so I don’t exactly remember the whole night in detail, but it was

only the second time that I’d exhibited publicly, so it was something new for me and obviously quite exciting. The work that I hung at that show was two black and white clown’s heads painted onto stretched patterned fabric. I remember thinking at the time that this work was the first time that I’d done something that really felt like my own voice, and though I was aware that I hadn’t exactly made any innovations with this work, it has, in a sense generated all the work that I have done since, though there have been slight variants here and there.

Do you think the show was a success?

I didn’t sell the work, but sales are not necessarily a measure of success anyway (not exactly). I remember thinking that the show looked good as a whole and was proud to be a part of it.

Tell us about where you went in terms of your career after Xhibit and after studying at the London Institute/University of the Arts London. Did taking part in the exhibition help you in any way?

I’ve already mentioned most of what I’ve done after Xhibit, apart from that I was invited to take part in the Future Map exhibition in late 2002, which was also very encouraging. As for whether taking part in Xhibit helped me in anyway, I’m uncertain. The experience of studying at Camberwell as a whole definitely helped me, and since Xhibit was a part of it I suppose it did. I certainly gained confidence whilst studying at Camberwell, and having work in public shows such as Xhibit obviously aided that.

Do you still make paintings/work?

Yes, I have a studio in Bethnal Green where I spend five days a week working. Though I made a slight detour into video work on the third year of my BA, my work since has remained exclusively painting (oil painting on canvas). They are mostly figurative, and have an outmoded, or old fashioned look to them. This is largely due to the source material I use to make the paintings, which ranges from 19th century daguerreotypes, to

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knitting pattern books, crime scene photography and other things, all of which are old and yet familiar, and therefore bring a weight of their own to the compositions that I may include them in.

What’s next for you in the painting/art world?

As I’ve already mentioned, I am currently working towards a solo show in Germany in the summer. I don’t really have a set life plan concerning my work. As long as I am able to spend time in my studio working and the paintings are getting seen, that is the main concern for me. If I was suddenly not able to do this, I would have to work out a strategy of what the next step would be, but thus far I have been lucky enough since graduating from the Royal Academy to be invited to participate in shows in England and abroad.As for anything else in the future, time will tell, but as long as I am able to make work, I have no complaints.

Interview by Oliver Fenwick

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Richard Moon NefertitiOil on Canvas(2006)

Richard Moon Windmill(2005)

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Giuseppe Di Bella Milk Triptych(2002)

Past Profile III: Giuseppe Di Bella

Hundreds of students have taken part in Xhibit over the past nine years so Less Common wanted to ask a former student who took part how they saw the exhibition, where they went from there and where they’re at now.

Born in Sicily and raised in France, Giuseppe Di Bella studied photography at London College of Communication from 2002 to 2005. He currently lives, teaches and practices his photography in London and since taking part in Xhibit in 2005 has gone on to show his work with the likes of the likes of Rineke Dijkstra and Nan Goldin.

When you were a student in 2005 you showed your work at Xhibit, how did you feel on the opening night / Private View?

When my work ‘Milk’ (Triptych 2002) was selected for the Xhibit ‘05, I was very excited because I saw it as an opportunity to show my work professionally and within in a great gallery space [The Arts Gallery].For the opening night I was very pleased with the way my images were presented, as well as those of the other exhibitors. It also gave me an insight on the process of dealing with the curator of a show. Also lots of good food and alcohol!

Do you think the show was a success?

Definitely!

Tell us about where you went in terms of your career after Xhibit. Did taking part in the exhibition help you in any way?

Yes. It gave me some exhibition credit for the exhibitions that followed. A concrete example of this was when I was asked to do a presentation of my portfolio to a curator who asked me if I had been exhibited before. I was able to answer positively and I think it was important to show that my work had been exhibited in the past, especially in such a prestigious location. It definitely opens up doors.

Do you still practice photography?

When I graduated back in the summer of 2005,

I experienced a feeling of anti-climax. Three years of study can be long and draining. All I had in view was a small group exhibition in Belgium, Brussels, within a festival of performing arts that wasn’t official yet. So, very little but I was hoping that if it happened it could lead to something else. Eventually, the exhibition was finally con-firmed and planned in November 2005. The good news was that the organizer liked one of the ‘Milk‘ photographs and chose to represent the festival with that image. Huge posters were put up throughout Brussels city as well as leaflets and programs. It gave me, and my work, lots of exposure. As a matter of fact I was asked by the same organizer to submit more images for the second part of the festival to be held in April 2006. Another image was then selected and new posters and leaflets were produced. Apart from that, which I think was already encouraging, nothing exciting happened. It was during February 2006 that a Belgian Curator contacted me from Brussels. She had seen my latest photograph in the form of leaflets and asked me to submit more images together with a short description of my photographic practice. I was very excited. I met with her in March 2006 and did a presentation of my portfolio. She really liked my work and as a result of seeing my portfolio I was invited to take part in a group exhibition to be held in Brussels in February 2007. So to answer to your question, yes I am still practicing. The difference being that I have been producing work for a long time at the detriment of new work. So there is a time to produce, and another to be creative.

What’s next for you in the photography world?

Well...Another exhibition? Actually yes, I have another one planned next April in Manchester. So I cannot really complain, can I? (Laughs) The next step for me now would be to prospect for future exhibition and working on a new project.

Interview by Ronan Haughton

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Xhibit 2007

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Adriana Munoz

Andrew Rouse

Arina Gordienko

Bethany Murray

Bradley Grievson

Daniel R Jones

Dexter Dymoke

Edward Newton

Evi Lemberger

Gemma Waggett

Hye-Su Lee

Ida Jarmoszewicz

Jackie Wightman

James Tye

Jeni Snell

Joana Pires da Mota

Joanna Wallfisch

Jonny Briggs

Camberwell College of Arts


Central Saint Martins


Chelsea College of Art & Design

London College of Communication

Wimbledon College of Art












Lea Sednaoui

Manuela Larissegger

Marina Zervou

Michael Please

Mirjam Maramaa

Ben Gerlis

Riffat Ahmed

Rose Jenner

Sarah Hamza

Svetlana K-Lie

Tamsin van Essen

Thomas Ballhatchet

Tomas Downes

Ulrika Bygge

Yingda Li

Yuko Nasu

Yumi Kudo

Yuzuru Hama

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London College of Fashion







London College of Fashion










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Colophon

Get InvolvedVisit lesscommon.org or send examples of your work to:

Ronan [email protected]

You must be a student or alumni of the University of the Arts Lon-don to submit your work.

Copyright 2007The Students’ Union, Univer-sity of the Arts London and the authors. No article may be reproduced or altered in any form without the written permis-sion of the editor(s). The views expressed by the contributors/ writers are not necessarily those of the editor(s), the publishers or the University of the Arts Lon-don.

Call for EntryIf you have taken part in Xhibit in the past we’d like to hear from you to see were it has taken you. Please contact Less Common / More Sense by emailing the Edi-tor at [email protected]

PublisherThe Students’ UnionUniversity of the Arts London65 Davies StreetLondon W1K 5DA

EditorRonan Haughton

Art DirectorLars Laemmerzahl

Production AdvisorGuy de Villiers

AdvertisingTodd [email protected]+44 (0)20 7514 6270

TextAngela RobinsonEamonn MaxwellOliver FenwickRonan Haughton

Fonts SabonFS Lola

PrintersStephens & George, England

Curator XhibitSamantha AllflattOliver Fenwick Jury XhibitTom HunterAngela RobinsonEamonn MaxwellSamantha AllflattOliver Fenwick

Branding XhibitSamson Ng

Thanks ToAll EntrantsAndrea StrachanDuncan MannEva MendezTunde BaloganDenise HeardVerity RadleyAl ClappisonJohn BloomfieldSam GolbyMel HooperAndy WainJohn WithcombJames AllanLaura LeeSteve BeamanLaura KnightJames HarveyDan O’ LearyDenise SolakAll Students’ Union Staff

LCMS 9 | The Xhibit Issue

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Transcript of LCMS 9 | The Xhibit Issue