Ruth Claxton, Postcard, (A Milkmaid) 2008

Ruth Claxton works with a variety of media, in particular reconfiguring or altering pre-existing objects in order to create objects and installations which begin to question what it is to look, see or experience.  In her drawings made with postcards bought in gallery shops she uses a scalpel to cut away the surface in order to alter the gaze of the sitters. In doing so she subverts these reductive souvenirs, literally removing the image from its material base. The works shown here use cards from the National Gallery of Wales and the Barber Institute, Birmingham and are parts of larger series, which limit themselves to cards available from particular institutions. 

Ruth Claxton’s recent exhibitions include solo shows at Spike Island (Bristol), Ikon Gallery (Birmingham) and Ingleby (Edinburgh). Other shows and projects include Known Unknowns Gallery Loop (Seoul), Back of the Head, Cooper Art Gallery (Dundee), Fantopia Mothers Tankstation (Dublin), An Archaology, 176 (London), Self Effaced FA projects (London), Extreme Crafts CAC (Vilnius), What is Comprehension? Strategic Questions, 52nd Venice Biennale, Drawing Links The Drawing Room (London) and East International, (Norwich 2003). She is one of the founding directors of Eastside Projects in Birmingham where she has recently curated Sculpture Show with Gavin Wade. She is represented by Faye Fleming Gallery (Geneva). 

www.ruthclaxton.com

Exocet's Curatorial Approach: Trade City

The work presented by exocet, for TradeCity, deals with re-evaluation and ­progression through modification. The transformation of an existing object, image or design alludes to dormant potential and presents a new set of possibilities. The work questions physical and conceptual boundaries, and in the context of TradeCity, comments on what can be achieved by operating inside, outside and in between them.
Haroon Mirza’s Fairy Pump 2009 is composed of a variety of objects that normally do not co exist, such as water and electricity, vintage furniture and electronic equipment. When combined the objects merge into an assemblage that defies categorisation and provides an audio pulse to the space. Fairy Pump 2009 is an adapted component from the larger installation A Sleek Dry Yell, 2008.

Screw You Billy You Fuck, 2009 ­­(after Fuck You Billy You Fuck, 2007) by Toby Huddlestone is also an adaptation of previous work. An IKEA Billy bookcase has been cut into sections to provide a series of alternative storage solutions within the space.

In a more refined approach to modification Ruth Claxton’s postcards, each carefully doctored, provide a series of strikingly beautiful compositions that sit upon the boundary between two and three dimensions.

Artist collaboration jack of none provide the physical manifestation of a boundary. Palisade is based on a 16th Century design for a defensive wall. This design has been manipulated to respond to the interior of the exhibition space and is composed of found material.
This selection of work highlights the different possible outcomes that can be found through experimenting with creative processes. The augmentation of objects and imagery offers a doorway into a world of hidden possibility and questions.