BAD BEHAVIOUR
David Chalkley, Ute Essig, Mars Gomes, Caro Halford, Araba Ocran, Charley Peters, Paul Stanley, Ventiko
badbehaviourexhibition.com / info@badbehaviourexhibition.com
13-30 October 2012, Saturday-Sunday 12-6pm and by appointment Tuesday-Friday 12-6pm Private View Friday 12 October 6.30-10.30pm
After show party, Upstairs@ The Cambria, 40 Kemerton Road, Camberwell, London SE5 9AR 9.30pm -12.00am.
Brixton East is delighted to announce its inaugural exhibition, Bad Behaviour, a group show bringing together the work of eight artists: David Chalkley, Ute Essig, Mars Gomes, Caro Halford, Araba Ocran, Charley Peters, Paul Stanley and Ventiko. Although working in diverse ways across many different media, the artists are unified in the subtle, compelling and poetic ways in which they handle their chosen themes.
Bad Behaviour will be shown in the distinctive space ‘Brixton East’ courtesy of Andy Luckett. The gallery is a 4500 sq ft Victorian furniture factory in the heart of Brixton. It will showcase the work of eight vibrant artists, each at varying stages of their careers, who use sculpture, photography, video, drawing and performance. The show will also be accompanied by a series of gallery events that aim to dispel the notions of contemporary art being elitist, intending to engage not just those who have been educated in the contemporary art system. Offering opportunities to learn more about the processes of developing an exhibition and a chance to hear the artists discuss their work informally. Bad Behaviour proposes an amenable space that promotes the understanding, discussion of, and participation in this exciting creative venture.
David Chalkley makes highly crafted works that involve the combination of readymade objects and constructed elements. Exploring the reoccurring themes of chaos and control he explores the ongoing dialogue between materials, processes and concepts.
Ute Essig is inspired by urban life and uses familiar objects to create work while questioning their functionality and meaning. Concerned with the fragility of objects and life itself, Essig uses delicate materials such as porcelain, hand made paper and parcel rope to reassess the experience of urban living.
Mars Gomes is an observer of feelings. Making work like a storyteller, she creates suspense with emotion and vulnerability. In Bad Behaviour she will exhibit two series of work, This is Modern Art and Show Me, which reference childhood memories, politics, folk tale and plain rudeness.
Caro Halford manipulates discarded and found objects using performance or audience participation to add new dimensions to them. In this way she asks us to question our received understanding of these objects. Documentation of the intervention itself becomes material for subsequent artworks.
Araba Ocran is interested in monumentalism and commemoration, and is intrigued by how society deals with this highly emotive subject. Through her choice of materials and subject matter she aims to reawaken an awareness of the monument by highlighting the ordinary, and what society today seems to regard as worthy of record.
Charley Peters explores the pure aesthetic of line, her drawings often created as a response to material placed within a defined space. For Peters, drawing is a tool for active engagement and response – a reflexive and open-ended medium, which, through her practice, is constantly evolving in reaction to material and spatial concerns.
Paul Stanley looks at the images we use to document our existence. His work combines drawing, photography, and found material to create installations that interrogate the relationship we have with images, both on a personal and political level.
Ventiko makes photographic works that bring the darkness and unpredictability of the human mind to the forefront, disguised as beauty. Her recent photographic series have been inspired by the Abrahamic religions, and uses dramatic lighting and staging to echo and re-interpret Italian Renaissance paintings.
Events Programme
Free events:
Sunday 14 October 4-8pm
New York’s Animamus Art Salon comes to Brixton, providing a forum for artists from Bad Behaviour to discuss their current work while encouraging audience participation.
Saturday 20th October 6-9pm
The Dragon King’s Daughter, the self-styled ‘purveyor of finely crafted filth’ reads extracts of her erotic poetry in the Bad Behaviour exhibition space. There will also be an opportunity for an informal Q&A. thedragonkingsdaughter.com
Pete’s Alternative Bingo Night, Peter O’Keffe will be the bingo caller for the evening. With his glamorous assistant he will bring fun and prizes to Brixton East.
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Brixton East is a creative space for a range of projects and activities including film, theatre and photography, as well as a commercial studio / gallery / space to hire for events. It is hoped that the building will highlight the best of the creative talent in south London. Its programme will encompass a cultural and educational mix of events and provide an exciting and animated space beyond the conventional white cube.
