This morning was my first visit to the Newham archives and I spent just over 2 hours viewing around 50 of Gill’s drawings. The first thing that struck me was the fragile intimacy of the works. They are all about her. Gill’s webs of dots, dashes and lines keep the viewer at arms length. We are faced with Gill’s code and it is not easy to decipher. However, they have a strange way of capturing your attention. I can’t quite put my finger on it…let’s just say the experience was quite spiritual. Viewers often describe my drawings in three ways: obsessive, compulsive and time-consuming. You can definitely say the same thing about Gill’s practice. Our drawings record time elapsing and the laborious process of their construction is explicit in the final work. I am particularly interested in examining this further, particularly within the context of archives, which are by their very nature a capsule for preserving the past and protecting it for the future. I wonder whether this could become a crucial element in the curation of the final show. I will be selecting work and curating the exhibition with the Nunnery’s Director Rosamond Murdoch. She tends to get things spot on and I’m sure we will work well together. Anyway, lots to do and I will keep you posted as things progress. You can also follow my updates on Twitter using the tag #MadgeGill and on my website http://www.jackjhutchinson.com See you at the PV on Thursday 22 August at the Nunnery Gallery!
