Applied Artists Lead The Way At Jerwood Makers Open 2014

Applied Artists

The Jerwood Makers Open is part of Jerwood Visual Arts, a contemporary gallery programme of exhibitions, awards and events at Jerwood Space, London and on tour nationally. Jerwood Visual Arts supports and showcases the work of talented emerging artists, and aims to make connections and provoke conversations within and across visual arts disciplines. It’s a major initiative of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

Chosen from over 240 UK-wide applications, the selected makers not only include two collaborative duos – the first time in the award’s four year history – but also offer a range of projects rooted within and across different disciplinary backgrounds, from architecture and spatial design to more traditional craft-based skills in ceramics and glass. As a group, these makers push the boundaries of craftsmanship, combining a high level of technical skill with intelligent conceptual thinking.

The artists selected for the fourth edition of Jerwood Makers Open on 11 July premiere new works in an exhibition at Jerwood Space.  Following commissions of £7,500 earlier this year, ceramicists Hitomi Hosono and Matthew Raw, artists Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen, glass artist Shelley James and spatial storytellers FleaFollyArchitects, were given the opportunity to develop new ideas central to their individual practices.  This resulting work will be shown for the first time in London, before touring the UK.
 
Looking to develop her organic porcelain designs, Hitomi Hosono will create a series of delicate sculptures inspired by the vibrancy of the South Pacific and for the first time will experiment with the use of colour in her botanical forms.  www.hitomihosono.com
 
Royal College of Art graduate Matthew Raw, best known for his ceramic pieces that fuse a relationship between narrative and structure, will create a life-sized ceramic-tiled façade of a British pub inspired by historic turn-of-the-century designs and contemporary issues of gentrification.  www.mraw.co.uk
 
London-based artists Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen will explore production processes within making and design to create a series of hand-crafted LED signs, displaying fragments of text that originated in the process of sourcing electronic components from China.   Composed of sentences that have been either lost, or perhaps found in translation, Giving More to Gain More will encapsulate the poetic moment in which computerised systems reinterpret language. www.cohenvanbalen.com

Shelley James, whose practice investigates new techniques and the creative possibilities of glass, will develop a new series of glass works rooted in new scientific explorations of perception and the way we view space. www.shelleyjames.co.uk
 
Energetic architecture practice FleaFollyArchitects, co-founded by Thomas Hillier and Pascal Bronner in 2013, is known for using unorthodox narratives and programmes to create original and often surreal observations. They will create a fictional universe using the themes and characters from Mary Shelley’sFrankenstein as a metaphor for our digital age, in particular the Internet, exploring how this has changed from a tool for good to an uncontrollable monster of our own making. www.fleafollyarchitects.com
 
The artists were selected by an independent panel comprising foremost figures in the creative world, Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design and Fashion at the British Council; Junko Mori, artist and silversmith and Claire Catterall, Director of Exhibitions and Learning at Somerset House.
 
On the submission process and final selection, the panel commented:
‘Selecting this year’s Jerwood Makers Open has been an intense experience. With over 240 entries, a record number, we had quite a challenge to pick out five who will each exhibit commissioned work. The artists we selected create a sense of mystery and wonder through the transformation of ordinary materials, whether clay, glass, timber or light. They are amazingly diverse in their approaches, but have in common a dedication to their practice that is inspiring.’
 
Shonagh Manson, Director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation also commented: ‘Following the hugely successful commissions of 2013, this year’s selection once more promises an exhibition which moves between a number of strong themes. There will be explorations of singular, hand-crafted works and processes, investigations only made possible through conversation with individuals outside of the arts, and a series of works which play in the intersections of design and craft practice. Each maker has spoken passionately about the new leap they wish to make, and that is exactly what we hope these commissions will allow.’
 
Launched in 2010, Jerwood Makers Open creates a space in which to recognise and promote the significance of making practice and process within contemporary visual arts. It offers skillful makers at the early stages of their careers an opportunity to develop their creative ideas independently of specific commissioning structures, and with substantial curatorial support. Since 2010 it has supported 19 major new commissions, with previous recipients of the award including installation artist Keith Harrison, ceramicist James Rigler, glass artist Louis Thompson, conceptual maker Maisie Broadhead and Japanese paper-cut artist Nahoko Kojima.

The Jerwood Makers Open 2014 selection panel:

Vicky Richardson
Vicky joined the British Council in March 2010, having been Editor of the leading design magazine Blueprint from 2004. At the British Council, her role includes commissioning the British Pavilion for Venice Architecture Biennale as well as other British design exhibitions and activities that promote international exchange and collaboration with the UK.
 
Junko Mori
Junko has been practising metalwork since 2000 and exhibits internationally. She is best known for her innovative use of metals, creating intriguing forms inspired by the concept of uncontrollable beauty in nature. Her work currently resides in a number of museum collections such as the V&A, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Honolulu, Hawaii.
 
Claire Catterall
Claire is Director of Exhibitions and Learning at Somerset House where she is responsible for a programme of major exhibitions covering architecture, design, fashion and photography. Claire has been curator at Somerset House since 2007, and Director of Exhibitions and Learning since 2012, and has brought an exciting programme of exhibitions to the revitalised galleries, including Maison Martin Margiela 20 the exhibition (2010), Tim Walker Storyteller (2012), Valentino: Master of Couture (2012) and the forthcomingIsabella Blow: Fashion Galore!(2013).  Prior to joining Somerset House, Claire worked as an independent curator.
 
11 July to 31 August 2014, Jerwood Space, London
 

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