NATURAL FLUX
6th – 11th November 2013
Opening Preview Thursday 7th November, 6 - 8.30pm
Peter Warren | Shinichi Adachi | Kevin Bielicki | Jo Woffinden | Agnes Jones | Anne Murray | Andrew Pearson | Clare Wakefield | John Brocklehurst | Thorhammer Beowulf
The Brick Lane Gallery is proud to present NATURAL FLUX, a unique exploration of nature as contemporary art, through the medium of bonsai. This exhibition will liberate the often generalised ideas of Bonsai trees as a traditional practice, by placing the trees within an exhibition context, alongside contemporary media of art in one of London’s most well-known contemporary art spaces, The Brick Lane Gallery.
NATURAL FLUX is the continuation of an idea which dates back over 150 years in Japanese bonsai, asking artists and craftsmen, particularly talented ceramicists, to make something which can be used in conjunction with bonsai to create something beautiful. The exhibition will therefore present bonsai artistry, juxtaposed with ceramics, metalwork, photography and sculpture to create a unique and accessible exhibition which re-evaluates how we look at nature and our relationship with it.
Natural Flux is the brain child of Peter Warren, an internationally renowned bonsai artist based in London who spent six years training in the traditional manner as an apprentice to a Japanese bonsai master. This exhibition will give us an insight into his aesthetic and ideas regarding how bonsai and the contemporary world can be combined. It is an attempt to combine the traditional oriental practice with contemporary western art, a natural progression for an artist with his pedigree.
Alongside Peter Warren NATURAL FLUX will also feature: John Brocklehurst, a talented bonsai artist and craftsman who has been making unique and bespoke bonsai display stands for many years. John has displayed trees across Europe and has become well known for his ability with certain bonsai species including Ilex Serrata, Oriental Bittersweet, and Japanese flowering quince; Thorhammer Beowulf aka Thor a PhD candidate at the Australian National University researching the art and aesthetics of bonsai and its contribution to the resurgent global interest in the aesthetics of nature and the environment. Thor is also a practising Australian bonsai artist who has studied bonsai in Japan and the U.S. and uses living botanical organisms, trees and bonsai in his art practice.
Juxtaposed with the bonsai artistry of these three talented professionals, NATURAL FLUX will feature constructed ‘containers’ for the trees, by 4 UK based artists including ceramic artists Jo Woffinden and Andy Pearson from London, Clare Wakefield from Kent, and Anne Murray from Glasgow. These talented artists, each uniquely and appropriately influenced by natural forms, as well as, Japanese art, pottery, culture, and design, will create beautiful objects that challenge perceptions of form, space, materiality, memory and time.
The exhibition will also feature film-based photography by up and coming street photographer Shinichi Adachi; US based Sculptor Kevin Bielicki who combines forms of wood found in nature like vines, roots, and branches with industrial materials such as concrete, steel and epoxy resin; and blacksmith Agnes Jones, whose work is an intriguing mix of the functional and the sculptural. Using metal as a medium for drawing, she manipulates steel bars and wire into large-scale sketches.
More than your average exhibition of contemporary art, NATURAL FLUX is a celebration of the symbiotic relationship between the bonsai and the artist that must be made in order to create a sustainable environment for growth, which cultivates the desired image of the tree. It is an artistry that maintains elements of craftsmanship, where technical and manual ability are as essential as an artistic appreciation for line, form and space. This appreciation and craftsmanship form the focus for NATURAL FLUX where like-minded artists of various mediums come together to present a mixed media exhibition centred on the Bonsai.
You are warmly invited to join the artists at the opening on Thursday 7th November from 6pm – 8.30pm, for the first preview of this unique exhibition. For more information and to RSPV please email Tessa Yee info@thebricklanegallery.com or view http://naturalflux.co.uk/
pubblica:
Massimo Nardi
