Madge Gill received little acclaim during her lifetime and it’s unclear if she ever intended her work to be viewed in public at all. However, a series of retrospective exhibitions at the Nunnery Gallery, east London – the first major survey of her intricate and spiritually inspired drawings anywhere in the world – is hoping to bring her work to wider attention.
Residency projects based on the artist’s archive are developing further research around her practice. For the second stage of three exhibitions, Gill’s drawings are presented alongside work by current residency holder Jack J Hutchinson.
Hutchinson explains how the residency came about: “I was approached by Rosamond Murdoch, Curator and Director of the Nunnery Gallery – she was looking for an artist for the second part of the Madge Gill residency. I guess she felt there was a resonance between our practices. Drawing is at the heart of our work. Also, the obsessive, repetitive mark making is an obvious similarity.”
Both artists employ this compulsive mark making as a way of confronting the inner self, with repetitive processes used to counteract deep-rooted fears and anxieties.
For Murdoch, the purpose of the exhibition is two-fold: “It’s about increasing knowledge of Gill’s rarely seen drawings, but also to carry out new enquiries about the relevance of Gill’s work to practicing artists today.”
Hutchinson adds: “The body of work Gill created was absolutely immense and we are only just starting to get our heads round it. These exhibitions place it within a contemporary drawing context.”
One element of Hutchinson’s research has been his Projects unedited blog that has tracked his residency over the past two months. “[It’s been] a really important part of the evolution of the project… the blog has helped order my thoughts, assess my progress and also get feedback from other artists through the Artists talking community.”
The project is conceived and funded by Bow Arts with the support of The London Borough of Newham, where Gill’s work is carefully stored as part of its Heritage and Archive department.
Alongside his own practice, Hutchinson is Communications Officer for AIR: Artists’ Interaction & Representation).
‘Autography – Madge Gill retrospective with resident artist Jack J Hutchinson’, 23 August – 1 November, The Nunnery Gallery, Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ. www.bowarts.org/nunnery
Twitter hashtag: #MadgeGill
