Finally we have finished the press release. It has taken three nights, but we’ve made it! These past days have been an interesting experience, because it allows me to think more objectively about my own work while organizing the exhibition. At the moment the work I’ve been making is for the upcoming show in June with Victoria Foster and Marc Hayward, so by organizing Grockles at Sea is making me take in consideration the possibilities of working with others for a specific show. But I will develop details about that show in the future, since at the moment 20th April is sooner. (Ceci)
So, this is main text for the press release of Grockles at Sea:
Grockles at Sea is an exhibition curated by Ceci Lombardi and Marco Palmieri which aims to explore ideas of redundancy, recycling and regeneration. The selected artists will present a new body of work which investigates these issues through the use of craft-based techniques, kitsch paraphernalia and second-hand materials. The exhibition developed from a fascination of the seaside town and its various narratives, spanning from its Romantic heritage to its glitzy tourist attractions. "The sea is relentless; it reclaims, recycles, recedes, returns. It can be postcard aesthetic, and it can be awesome power, and it is full of myth and fact. It is a lot of things to a lot of people- whether that is a deep, spiritual interest, an intellectual pursuit, or a mindless surrendering to tradition. So the seaside tourist is relentless like the sea- they will inevitably return."(Eleanor Levett) The aim of the exhibition is to present a collection of work which functions within the context of Folkestone and its identity as a seaside town, setting up a temporary site where a dialogue can be developed.
The nature of Benjamin Fletcher’s practice relies on his obsessive interest in second-hand objects and materials. Ranging from watches to old pieces of wood, the artist meticulously works them into new curious artefacts. For the exhibition, Benjamin is presenting a series of objects made from old pieces of wood.
Hannah Lees constructs sculptures out of second-hand materials, which vary from driftwood to fake diamonds. She uses a complex language of materials to create hybrid ready-mades. In the work Three wishes, the materials are carefully selected to resemble a maquette of a lakeside landscape. The dichotomy between the materials and the Romantic imagery in the work raises issues relating to the failed picturesque, kitsch materiality, and contemporary aesthetics.
Eleanor Levett started using homely craft techniques such as cross-stitch, tapestry, and needlepoint embroidery as a tool to explore the way textures alter the viewer’s experience. Her research continued by tracing the relationship these crafts have with contemporary sub-cultural art forms such as tattooing, graffiti and game design. Her work derives from this research and attempts to articulate and further develop the relationship between these different forms of outsider art.
Marco Palmieri produces small paintings by working over cheap prints and copies of paintings found in charity shops. Through this form of appropriation, the artist aims to investigate issues of authenticity and the redundant and regenerative nature of painting. The images are stolen, then given a new life: they are Frankenstein images.
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