#58
In Peril on the Sea: Sailing Ships, Stormy Seas
Curated by Clive Phillpot
28 January 2015 – 20 March 2015
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Private view: 27 January 2015 6:00–8.30pm
WE ARE SHIPS AT SEA NOT DUCKS ON A POND, Street poster
published by Air Gallery & Artangel Trust, London, 1986
© Lawrence Weiner.
Taking an excerpt from the text written for the booklet, A Voyage on the North Sea (1974) by the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers, “It is up to the attentive reader to find out what devilish motive inspired this book’s publication” as a provocation, the exhibition sets out to question and explore ‘motive’ and ‘decoy’ within artistic and curatorial practice.
Both a film and book, A Voyage on the North Sea were distributed together as part of the same package. Thematically connected, the works mutually consisted of 19th and 20th century nautical images including photographic reproductions of an amateur ‘grand master’ painting along with a photograph of a contemporary sailboat. This work, along with many of Broodthaers’ written, object-based and site-specific environments were not widely known in his lifetime – but this work has latterly been canonised within the sphere of contemporary art, not least in part by attention of the renowned US critic Rosalind Krauss in such works as A Voyage on the North Sea: Art in the Age of the Post-Medium Condition (2000).
Looking at artists who, like Broodthaers, approach art production from a post-medium perspective, the exhibition will display works from Lawrence Weiner and Ed Ruscha that contemplate the mysterious and somewhat perilous nature of making and showing art – by being, manifestly, ‘at sea’. Reproductions of nautical works by Willem van de Velde the Younger, Peter Monamy and J.M.W. Turner, unobtainable in their original formats, will be presented via forms of secondary documentation, endlessly accessible and reproducible via printed or digital means.
Book works by Helen Douglas and Elisabeth Tonnard as well as other works from the Special Collections at Chelsea will be on display alongside ephemera and other items.
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Public Programme: To coincide with the exhibition in the gallery, please join us for The Copyists symposium at the ICA on Friday 20 March 2015, 12-4pm.
Recent acts of re-publication are the starting point for this symposium, which brings together artists, writers, curators and publishers for a wide-ranging discussion of subjects such as photography, re-enactment and the literary figure of the Copyist. Contributions will also address the use of the book form and consider publication as a radical gesture in historical and contemporary art. Featuring Michael Bracewell, David Campany, Sarah Dobai, Tom McCarthy and Jo Melvin.
This event has programmed by Sarah Dobai and Karen Di Franco in association with CHELSEA Space and Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon (CCW) Graduate School, University of the Arts London.
Publication
As with each exhibition at CHELSEA space, a new illustrated publication will accompany the show.
Press Information
For further information, images or to discuss interviews please contact:
Karen Di Franco or Sinead Cullen at CHELSEA space
via email info@chelseaspace.org or tel: 020 7514 6983
Notes to Editors
• Images and further information are available upon request
• About: CHELSEA space is a public exhibiting space, sited on the Millbank campus of Chelsea College of Arts, where invited art and design professionals are encouraged to work on experimental curatorial projects. See: www.chelseaspace.org
• In copy please refer to CHELSEA space and not ‘The Chelsea space.’
• Gallery opening times: Wednesday-Friday 11am-5pm and by appointment.
• Private view: Tuesday 27 January 2015, 18:00–20.30
• Admission: FREE
Chelsea College of Arts is one of the world’s leading art and design institutions. Located at Millbank, next door to Tate Britain, Chelsea specialises in Fine Art, Graphic Design and Interior and Textiles Design. Since its origins in the 19th century, the College has produced many of the greatest names in the arts, including: Quentin Blake (illustrator and author) Ralph Fiennes (film and stage actor), AnishKapoor (sculptor), Steve McQueen, (artist), Chris Ofili (artist), Alan Rickman (film and stage actor), Alexei Sayle (comedian) and Gavin Turk (sculptor).
Operating at the heart of the world’s creative capital, University of the Arts London is a vibrant international centre for innovative teaching and research in arts, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts. The University is made up of six Colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Art. Renowned names in the cultural and creative sectors produced by the University include 12 Turner prize winners and over half of all nominees, 10 out of 17 fashion designers named British Designer of the Year, more than half of the designers showcased in London Fashion Week and 12 out of 30 winners of the Jerwood Photography Award.
