Lineup Change

Archive 1 (c)2010 Julie Cockburn

This news is bittersweet.  Julie Cockburn is doing so well in her practice and her calendar is so jam-packed with exhibitions,  she has had to make the decision to leave This ‘Me’ of Mine.  It is with joy for her and sadness for me that we say good-bye.  However, the short time we have worked together on this project has been wonderful.  I have been delighted to announce her on-going exhibition activity here on the blogsite and have been amazed by each successive opportunity which came Julie’s way.  She is on her way to the top and I wish her all the best!

Untitled 30/5/11, (c)2011 Darren Nixon, oil on canvas

As sorry as I am to see Julie go, I am equally pleased to welcome Darren Nixon to the project.  Darren is based in Manchester  and has a studio full of smashing work!  His paintings are dreamlike in their delicacy and deliver a punch to the solar-plexus in their poignancy.  His figures don’t quite inhabit their skin yet their body-language reveals how they sense themselves in their off-kilter world; I deliberately don’t use the words ‘find themselves’ because Darren’s characters aren’t supported by a history which allows them ‘to find’, they’ve been dropped in situ and react.  They both meld with and impose themselves on their environment in a full force sensory experience similar to a lucid dream.  It’s an awkward existence, much like many of our own.  You can see more of Darren’s work on Axis.

“Whilst I Breathe, I Hope” by Edd Pearman chosen for Per Annum 12

Be sure to catch these exciting exhibitions!  I’m so pleased to see Edd’s Whilst I Breathe, I Hope chosen for Per Annum 12 – a curator’s dream (well this curator’s dream, at least)!

The Contemporary London

Zeitgeist Art Projects

From Idea to Intention: This ‘Me’ of Mine

Peripheral Vision (c)2010 David Minton, oil on canvas, 152.4 x 121.9 cm, courtesy the artist

It takes a great deal of fortitude in the initial moments of moving from idea to intention.  It’s akin to jumping off the cliff in full swan extension.  Well, that’s how I felt at least when I made the decision to turn my idea into intention.  It started with this painting.  I had approached Aly Helyer about possibly showing her ink on paper works months earlier, but it was Peripheral Vision which made me certain I wanted to bring this show together.

David’s painting expresses so much of the philosophy behind the premise of this exhibition in an elegant understatement.  The bird, inextricably bound to its shadow, suspended forever in a fall and bound on both sides by delicate lines almost imperceptible but constraining nonetheless.  It is an expression of a weightless existence outlined by boundaries.

This is the very essence of my enquiry as curator; are we forever bound by our context or can we effect change in a context which defines and shapes us?

The artists in this exhibition are exploring this notion in their own ways within their practices.  Some interact with digital media and question the effects it has on our identity and physical being, some look at the effects of aging seeing strength in vulnerability, some regard objects and uniform as profound signifiers of personal meaning and identity, questioning the relationship we have with objects.  Presence and transience is also evident in many of the works.  It is a presence which is likely to be global now in scope thanks to social media, but which is so fleeting all we can hope for is a moment to exclaim our existence; our fifteen minutes of fame has turned into seconds.

I’ll talk about these works, the artists and the exhibition over the coming weeks in this blog.  Do let us know if you have any comments about what you see and read in these posts, we would be happy to hear from you.  If you would like to follow this blog and the development of This ‘Me’ of Mine, scroll down to the bottom of the page and give us your email address to receive updates or click the link to follow us on Twitter.

If you would be interested in hosting this exhibit or supporting its realization in other ways, you can contact me at thismeofmine[at]gmail.com.

Jane Boyer