19 September – 31 October 2008
This autumn sees the birth of a significant new London art space. Calvert 22 opens on 19 September with an exhibition of work by 21 painters, filmmakers and sculptors who take on the 7,000 square feet over two floors, to present Fresh Air Machine. The show is curated by three artists: painters Howard Dyke (current holder of Acme’s Jessica Wilkes Award) and Geraldine Swayne and sculptor Iavor Lubomirov.
Each artist will have the space to display a significant body of work. Howard Dyke presents a set of paintings inspired by images of veiled women intermixed with gestural abstraction; the 18th century pleasure gardens of Vauxhall are the inspiration for Liz Neal’s sculptures and embroidery; Harry Pye has made a series of paintings in collaboration with Rowland Smith, called Wonderful World, Beautiful People, which are ‘positive, irony free, and designed to put a smile on your face’. Geraldine Swayne’s dreamlike and disturbing paintings are inspired by early Victorian photography; Lyle Perkins’ work derives from hazardous and warning pictograms that depict scenarios of danger or elements of a prohibitive nature, presented aesthetically within the tradition of landscape and still life; and Penelope Lamb will be converting the building into a stomach, with lengths and lengths of digestive tract running along the interior conduits of the building linking the basement to the ground floor, every organ cast from tripe.
The artists in the show will be:
Matt Blackler, Howard Dyke, Russell Eade, Alison Gill, Giles Hinchcliff, Penelope Lamb, Iavor Lubomirov, Oliver MacDonald, Lee Maelzer, Liz Neal, Minou Norouzi, Lyle Perkins, Raul Pina, Clare Price, Harry Pye and Rowland Smith, Rachael Robb, Sarah Sparkes, Geraldine Swayne, Mike Tuck, Charlie Tweed.
About Howard Dyke
Howard Dyke is the current recipient of Acme’s Jessica Wilkes Award. This award provides him with a free studio and grant enabling him to devote more time to his studio practice. The annual award has been established through a legacy from the artist Jessica Wilkes, an Acme tenant who died in 2005. Howard, who graduated from Central St Martins and Goldsmiths College uses photographs and found images which he re-works through drawing and then translates them in to highly-charged gestural paintings.
LISTINGS DETAILS:
Calvert 22 is at 22 Calvert Avenue, E2 7JP, off Shoreditch High Street and Arnold Circus
Tube: Old St, Liverpool St
Buses: 149, 49
Exhibition open: 19 September – 31 October 2008
Private View: 18 September 6-9pm
Opening hours: Tues-Sat, 11am-6pm, Sun & Mon by appointment.
T: 07714 763 489 E: sophie@sophiebenjamin.co.uk
