T1+2 Gallery in association with Deutsche Bank All Capital Letters
3rd December – 25th February, 2008
All Capital Letters is a showcase of emerging contemporary art, displaying works from twenty-four of Britain’s leading new artistic talents. Narrative and Language are themes that unify the selected artists who all combine modern syntax and art historical motifs to critique contemporary artistic practice. The exhibition will act as a catalyst, representing a new move towards more craft based modes of practice that challenges and redefines recent traditions in the British contemporary art scene.
“In times of change we rely heavily on artists to look to the future, or at least give us fresh perspective on our own times. Radical reassessment usually requires a certain revision of the way we see the past”
(Alistair Hicks, Art Advisor, Deutsche Bank)
This stunning collection of works from a diverse array of skilled international artists deals with an art historical syntax with modern references to traditional skill and craftsmanship. The selected artists seek to provide a platform which questions modern attitudes towards dexterity and traditional working methods. They accomplish this through the use of detailed, finite and intricate methodology to create pieces that superbly sustain a social critique and strong political framework.
The attitude towards craftsmanship in the 21st Century is shifting and this exhibition explores the diversities and complexities which arise in current art debates. As leading sociologist Richard Sennet points out: “Craftsmanship has not vanished from our world. On the contrary: it has merely migrated to other regions of human enterprise.” The role of the artist in this collaborative venture is as producer, promoting a distinctive shift from the role of artist as director of the work to more tactile, sensitive and direct artistic working methods. This exhibition marks a transition from YBA era, and redefines the craft and skills base within the arts. The mastery of the artist focuses on the craftsmanship to be defined as an enduring, basic human impulse, the desire to do a job well for its own sake. The work in this exhibition has a very strong intellectual underpinning, with all the work maintaining a close relationship to language either in a semiotic or literal fashion.
This exhibition challenges traditional connotations of “Craft”:
“O.ED. “cræft”: power, strength, might,” from P.Gmc. *krab-/*kraf-. Sense shifted to “skill, art”
(via a notion of “mental power”), which led to the meaning of trade”
and explores its relation to the category of social capital: exploring ideals of knowledge and skill, acquired then further developed, to be transferred and passed on through communication, so easily mislaid in an era of social flux. The tradition of fine craft has resurfaced, perhaps as a subversive measure to counter the dominant discourse prevalent in contemporary art.
In All Capital Letters the selected artists are maintaining both a vital and contemporary approach to traditional skilled craft methods, and “challenging the act of creation as much as destruction, the re-making of a new order.” (Alistair Hicks, 2008)
Selected Artists:
Valerie Stahl von Stromberg,Godfried Donkor,Ilona Sagar,Alex Hamilton,Javier Rodriguez,Makiko Nagaya
Peter Lewis,Piers Jackson,Polly Morgan,Liane Lang,Zatorski+Zatorski,Hilary Koob-Sassen,Tereza Buskova,Seboo Migone,John Leigh Barnes,Olly Clegg,Henry Hemming,Richard Dyer,Benjamin R Brett
PaulMart,Eva Bensasson,Orlando Mostyn-Owen,Patricia Lennox-Boyd,Nick Devereux
The project will comprise of a private exhibition at Deutsche Bank and Salon d’Apollon:
Deutsche Bank – one of the largest financial institutions in the City of London supports the local communities in which it operates. Deutsche Bank’s strategic community programme supports its commitment to staff development, motivation, work–life balance and diversity. Being involved in the community is critical to the way the bank does business.
Deutsche Bank was recently awarded the Lloyd’s A&B Innovation Prize from Arts & Business, a retrospective award for the most ground-breaking partnerships of the past 30 years. Deutsche Bank was recognised for its partnerships with Frieze Art Fair, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Arts. Arts & Business receives funding from central government and private sponsors to promote exchange between the business and arts communities.
Salon d’Apollon hosted by T1+2 Gallery
By special appointment only.
A series of private events with artists’ readings and a selection of the finest works by each artist presented in the intimate setting of the Salon d’Apollon. These Salons will act as a forum for discussion and debate.
T1+2 Gallery
