Past |
August 2010
Babel
WW Gallery
An evening of Performance and Video as part of Time Out First Thursdays.
Natasha Bailey / Holly Slingsby / Zena Bielewicz / Jeremy Bailey / Sam Belinfante / Angus Braithwaite / Jack Catling / Steven Dickie / Benedict Drew / Ian Giles / Olof Helga Helgadottir / Kirsten Norrie / Frances Scott
-+-
July 2010
Rhubaba Presents: Blockbuster | Central—Reservation
'Rhubaba present 'Blockbuster' - an exhibition of video and sound works by 11 emerging artists. Expect blinking sculptures, a levitating man, burning hoops and paganistic subversions of ‘Quantum Leap’. Artists include Ed Atkins and Tom Nolan.'
Central—Reservation is a temporary project space in Bristol, dedicated to the support, production and presentation of contemporary visual arts open March to July 2010.
Rhubaba is an artist-run organisation with a group studio and curatorial project based in Edinburgh.
Visit: Central—Reservation
-+-
June | July 2010
Whitstable Biennale 2010
The Biennale has rapidly gained an international reputation for showcasing the best new work by the most exciting young UK artists. This is the 5th Whitstable Biennale, it is widely recognised as one of the most important dates on the UK's art-world calendar.
'As part of the event’s programme of the Biennale, artist Ian Giles reprises his performance Heat Feet. This is a visceral and forceful work that sees the artist standing barefoot on a metal platform that is rapidly heated by two gas stoves lit beneath it. An opera singer ‘documents’ Giles’ movements on the platform with her voice, leading to a distressed and frantic duet which ends when Giles can no longer endure the heat. With thanks to soprano Maya Sapone.'
www.whitstablebiennale.com
-+- June 2010 ManiFesten | Trolley Gallery Trolley Gallery is pleased to announce its forthcoming summer group show. Entitled ‘ManiFesten’, over a six day period, the artists selected will respond to the theme of food and eating in the gallery, with a program of performance in the garden of nearby St Leonard's Garden, Shoreditch Church. The theme of food, eating and public performance responds to the desire for an unusual approach to the group and summer show format. Robert Storey, Caroline Hobkinson, Ian Giles with Awst and Walther, Eloise Fornieles & Kate Hawkins , littlewhitehead, Tessa Lynch, Edward Fornieles, Boo Saville and Henry Hudson -+- May 2010 Converse/Dazed 2010 Emerging Artists Award A handful of artists under the age of 35, including Ian were longlisted for the Converse/Dazed 2010 Emerging Artists Award. The selection panel included Sadie Coles, Mark Titchner and Tim Marlow. -+- April 2010 Ian Giles | All Together Now | 20 Hoxton Square Projects For 20 Hoxton Square Projects Ian Giles presents ‘All Together Now’ for the first time in glorious Technicolor. Conducted by the artist members of a choir each repeat one word when commanded. Initially, the piece mirrors an orchestra tuning up, with words being plucked out of sequence. Then working from memory, Giles weaves sentences out of the jumble of words. This ritualistic work talks of love, loss and enlightenment. Giles works with performance, video and projections which are driven by physical and aesthetic imperatives. He is interested in using objects such as the body which can be choreographed. His performance works often demand total physical concentration and involve elements of danger and the absurd. -+- March 2010 New Work by Rachel Adams and Ian Giles. Blind Alchemy delights in the ‘home-made’ nature of alchemy rather than its wide possibilities. Adams and Giles have been intrigued by the alchemy that colours the everyday with its magic: nettle wine brewed at the bottom of the garden, then gulped down in the haze of twilight – it may not be the elixir of life but as the mind swirls and the ground seems to lift away there is no doubt that chemistry has its uses. One of the pursuits of the alchemist, turning lead into gold, lies in the no man’s land between scientific procedure and magical reaction.Turning nothing into something is a key part of both artist’s practices. Doing an act ‘blind’ also hints at the process of collaboration, conjuring ideas of experimentation, accident and trial, which are undertaken in any artistic partnership. The artists started working together in the form of a blog called ‘This to Follow That’, which became a image essay where each artist posted an image everyday, creating a visual dialogue. From this start point, the artists have researched the underlying themes and concepts within the blog to create a new series of works. Supported by the National Lottery Through the Scottish Arts Council, the Scottish Arts Council and Glasgow City Council 13th March | 2010 | Artists Talk | 3.00PM | -+- March 2010 A4 one, one A4 | The Pigeon Wing, London An exhibition to launch the collaboration project “There’s no I in Art”. The 12 participating artists re-introduce themselves to one another among a diverse range of works. All exist within the debatable dimensions of an A4 piece of paper, cubed. -+- March 2010 Plainness in Diversity | Birkbeck College, University of London An evening of work addressing the poetry of John Ashbery. The dialogue between John Ashbery’s writing and visual art is long and well established. This event continues the discussion, moving from the canvas and the page to bodies, spaces, and other sites of expression. Critical perspectives will also be presented considering the role of Ashbery’s work in relation to developments in the linguistic sciences. Curated by William Kherbek. Contributors include: Ian Giles, Gerald Curtis, Deniz Unal, and Paul Desborough. -+- March 2010 Robert Crosse, Ian Giles, Grace Morgan Pardo, Annamaria Pinaka, Samantha Sweeting and Deniz Unal Transition Gallery and Kismet Projects are pleased to present the zine launch of To Have And To Hold, with a special exhibition featuring contributing artists. Somewhere between a zine and a journal, image and text, dirty and proper, you will find issue 1 of 'To Have And To Hold'. The zine explores the relationship between experimental writing and image themed around the title of the publication. Spinning out of its pages, the exhibition features video, film and paintings. Oscillating breasts, a ring of fire, suckling lambs and martyred saints speak of a slipping between nurture and fantasy, suggesting a primal call towards the wild. ICA Zine of the Month March 2010 -+- February 2010 Architectural Playgrounds | Barbican Art Gallery Channel your inner playfulness and explore immersive installations and live performances in the gallery. For one night only, artists and performers play with the architecture of the gallery and create interactive and experiential structures for you to enjoy. Ian Giles Including works by: -+- February 2010 The Royal Standard is pleased to announce Blind Alchemy, the second in a series of collaborative projects between artists Rachel Adams and Ian Giles. One of the pursuits of the alchemist, turning lead into gold, lies in the no man’s land between scientific procedure and magical reaction. Turning nothing into something is a key part of both artist’s practices. This exhibition delights in the ‘home-made’ nature of alchemy rather than its wide possibilities. Adams and Giles have been intrigued by the alchemy that colours the everyday with its magic: nettle wine brewed at the bottom of the garden, then gulped down in the haze of twilight – it may not be the elixir of life but as the mind swirls and the ground seems to lift away there is no doubt that chemistry has its uses. Blind Alchemy transfers to Studio Warehouse Glasgow 12 – 28 March Supported by the Scottish Arts Council -+- January | February 2010 Reduplication of the Real | The Old Library, Cardiff An exhibition of photographic Performance Art documentation curated by Neil Jefferies The photographic documentation of Performance Art events is often simply understood as a prosaic method of documenting the act for future reference and so its strengths as a stand-alone Art form have yet to be fully tested. Reduplication of the Real will showcase a diversity of photographs that document Live Art Actions by both established and emerging artists from both national and international backgrounds. Some images will stand-alone while others will form small sets covering an individual performance. The exhibition will highlight the strengths of performance Art documentation and will lead the way towards further dialogue about the images as standalone works. -+- December 2009 The Apartment Project | 35-37 Broadway Market, London The Apartment Project is an exhibition taking place in the form of a three-day event in a private flat on Broadway Market in London E8. The exhibition focuses on time-based media, performances, live events and debates over the course of three days. PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: www.apartment-project.blogspot.com -+- November | December 2009 The Mojave Desert Project For 24 days Ian Giles will live alone in an isolated building in the heart of the North American desert. During his stay he plans to create an archive of his life, work and relationship with the remote setting. From this outpost he will publish a daily blog; this transmission will be his only connection to the outside world. He will talk but will anyone listen? Battersea Park Library will enable access to Giles’ residency, the library will house a portal to which Giles will send content to: photographs, texts and drawings. The library will also support a reading resource centre with books from its collection dealing with ideas related to the project. Funded by -+- October | November 2009 Play | Paradise Row, London Paradise Row and Prakke Contemporary proudly present Play, a 'pop-up' group show in Mayfair with a program of performances and events themed on the subject of Play. Group Show featuring: Johanna Billing, Justin Coombes, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Shezad Dawood, Todd de Luca, Edward Fornieles, Margarita Gluzberg, Nicholas Hatfull, Jeppe Hein, Carsten Holler, Evan Holloway, Sol LeWitt, Ross McNicol, Gosha Ostretsov, Guillaume Paris, Fedor Pavlov-Andreevich, Barry Reigate, Gary Webb, Ulrik Weck, Douglas White, Conrad Shawcross, Tim White-Sobieski, Richard Wentworth and Aaron Young. Performance program featuring: Zayne Armstrong, Awst & Walther, Mary Cork, Sarah Elliot, Eloise Fornieles & Kate Hawkins, Ian Giles, Kirstie Macleod, Harry Meadows, Steven Ounanian, Olympia Scarry and Amelia Whitelaw. -+- October 2009 British Friends of the Art Museums of Israel | The Showroom, London Silent art auction and party in support of the Art Museums in Israel. 'Onwards, into the Tide' was screened in the main gallery space throughout this event. With thanks to Lily Hall. -+- June | September 2009 This To Follow That
Blind Alchemy | Studio Warehouse Glasgow
Rachel Adams and Ian Giles in conversation with Jamie Kenyon at Studio Warehouse Glasgow
To Have and To Hold | Transition Gallery
"All Together Now. Work 2: a,e,i,o,u "
A choir of 32 members dispersed in the gallery each repeat a word when conducted. Every word takes on its own form whilst combining together with the others to create a sea of language within the newly formed, contained sound space
Bee Emmott, Edward Fornieles, Ross McNicol and Olympia Scarry plus many more.
Blind Alchemy Rachel Adams | Ian Giles | The Royal Standard, Liverpool
Curated Laurence Dujardyn
Jonas Vansteenkiste, Sven Overheul, Aukje Dekker, Kristian De La Riva, Rinus Van de Velde, Ian Giles, Filip Gilissen, Frederik Van Simaey, Lou Marcellin, Maude Mathieu and Sarah Medvewsky.
www.thedesertproject.com | Battersea Park Library
www.thedesertproject.com
Wandsworth Arts Grants and the Fabian Cravan Foundation
An Online Pen-pal Project
'This To Follow That' is a live visual conversation between Rachel Adams and Ian Giles.
Taking the form of a blog the artists posted images back and forth to each other. The images were taken from a wide range of sources: blogs, websites, Google, found images, photographs, other artist's work etc. Each picture posted by either artist may not necessarily relate to the other, connections may appear, one image might trigger a memory of an other and themes may occur.
‘This To Follow That’ is the first part of a series of collaborations between the two artists.
View: This To Follow That
-+-
May | June 2009
inFocus | Ian Giles | After Cravan | Oriel Davies Gallery, Wales Solo
"...I must surely be the king of something." - Arthur Cravan
Oriel Davies Gallery is a public art gallery in Newtown, Powys, dedicated to providing a wider audience access to the best of modern and contemporary visual art from Wales and the wider world.
inFocus is a space dedicated to supporting new and experimental work by emerging artists from Wales and the Borders.
-+-
April | May 2009
Long Live Romance | Residency | Academi di Belle Arti in Macerata, Marche, Italy
Ian was invited by the artist Franko B to take part in an international residency of visual art and performance, which took place within the Academi di Belle Arti in Macerata, Marche, Italy.
-+-
March 2009
Making Mistakes | Woman | Paradise Row, London
Making Mistakes | WOMAN: an evening of performances by artists based around the theme 'Woman' Curated by Edward Fornieles.
Performance:
Bower Constrictor | Ian Giles
Beneath the glow of a single light bulb, a classically trained violinist sat playing a simple circling melody. After blindfolding the violinist Giles fed her a glass of wine. This action caused the tune to be briefly disrupted. As the violinist returned to the melody Giles put pressure on her collar bone, his digging fingers intended to effect the melody. Notes were missed or were played out of tune as Giles applied differing amounts of pain. Giles' interventions made it increasingly difficult for the violinist to keep to the set melody. The performance ended when the violinist no longer felt able to continue under the struggle of Giles' actions.
The work continues the artist’s interest in using music to record and interpret the body's reaction to pain and violence.
www.paradiserow.com | Making Mistakes
-+-
February | March 2009
Caught in the Act | Chelsea Futurespace, London
Richard Butler | Ian Giles | Karl-Oskar Olsson | Joseph Popper
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett
In Caught in the Act, implausible contraptions, eccentric gizmos and sinking boats, pranks and practical joking prevail. There is a kind of contemporary Heath Robinson quality that sits at the heart of much of the work presented in this group exhibition by graduates of Chelsea College of Art and Design.
Working within performance, video and photography the four young artists allow themselves to share a spirit of play, they recognize absurdity and silliness as hopeful and emotionally resonant possibilities. These artists also share a fascination with documentation and an idea that perhaps the artwork is not only in a performance itself, but in its traces and representations. The artists in Caught in the Act make use of playful methods and associations, but at the same time they explore the power tensions between personal and institutional relationships. They create spaces of cynicism and humour, and occupy a zone between sincerity and absurdity.
A 24-page Catalogue has been published to coincide with Caught In The Act, with a foreword by Dan Smith.
Buy it for £5 including postage and packaging from Chelsea Space publications: www.chelseaspace.org
-+-
January | February 2009
Wallis Dies And Goes to Paradise | Paradise Row, London
Run from an enourmous warehouse that tripled up as a primary (though un-registered) residence for a fluid number of young artists, writers, musicians and advertising executives and an illegal party venue, The Wallis Gallery drew together extraordinary talents from literally all across East London to stage a series of legendary exhibitions, performance events, happenings and parties. A fresh, new crowd with something to say. Some said it in fibreglass, some said it with paint, some said without obeying the laws of grammar, some said it with a pseudo-Neo-Modernist aesthetic, some said it in the dark. Others, like experimental punk band Horse Vomit, said it with multiple rolls of gaffer tape wrapped round their faces.
In September 2008, The Wallis Gallery finally closed its doors and shut a chapter in history after the warehouse's tenants stopped paying rent.
Making Mistakes was the name of the well-frequented and chaotic performance evenings at The Wallis Gallery and it will be represented by a selection of its greatest performers doing their thing at the Private View.
Performances are organised by Edward Fornieles and features:
Edward Fornieles | Eloise Fornieles | Ian Giles | Ben Hunt
-+-
November 2008
After Cravan | DELEADÚS, London Solo
"...I must surely be the king of something." - Arthur Cravan
Arthur Cravan (1887-1918) was known as a poet, boxer, forger and art critic - he was an idol of the Dada and Surrealist movements. Ever the showman, he pledged more than once to commit suicide in public.
The onset of the war led Cravan on a convoluted vanishing act which took him — in various guises — from Paris to Mexico where he is said to have disappeared on a drunken boat of his own making. In his research, Giles stumbled across a text which suggests that Cravan went to sea in a wooden boat armed with an axe as a final fatal performance. Ever an enigma; Cravan would continue to be sighted in different parts of the world in the decades which followed.
Filmed off the coast of South Wales; Ian Giles’ video installation documents the rumoured final moments of Cravan’s life. Stranded in a white desert of water, the artist offers us a stark image of destruction. With every swing of the axe, we cannot help but will him on towards his ruin. The work is shown along side a video montage based on René Clair’s film 'Entr’acte' (1924) which features references to Cravan. Giles’ montage hints at a state of otherness, a space only just beyond reality.
Work shown: After Cravan
-+-
July 2008
The Graduates | Battersea Arts Centre, London
The Graduates is Battersea Arts Centre's festival of experimental performance from the UK’s most exciting college and university graduates
Producers from BAC traveled around the country seeing the work of final-year BA and MA students to be able to present a handful of the best pieces in London.
Work shown: Held Hold
-+-
May 2008
East End Collaborations | The Arts Building, Queen Mary, University of London.
EEC Platform is a platform for new LiveArt works by artists based in London. East End Collaborations is a partnership between the Live Art Development Agency and Queen Mary, University of London, that aims to respond to the artistic and professional development needs of artists in London at an early stage of their practice.
Click here to view footage of the performance.
-+-
May 2008
XHIBIT 08 | The Arts Gallery, London
"World renowned artist Yinka Shonibare has selected 41 of the most controversial and exciting new art and design talents from University of the Arts London for a fresh, eclectic exhibition. In its eleventh year, XHIBIT is a unique annual exhibition featuring artists in perhaps their most experimental and confrontational creative phase." XHIBIT 08 Press release
Work shown: Onwards
-+-
April 2008
'I am Still Your Worst Night Mare’ | Arnolfini, Bristol
I am Still Your Worst Nightmare' has been developed with Theatre Bristol to showcase new live art, experimental theatre, durational, installation and film work from new and established UK-based artists.
Work shown: Held Hold
-+-
April 2008
M A K I N G M I S T A K E S | The Wallis Gallery, London
Making Mistakes at The Wallis Gallery is a performance evening where you will be given an opportunity to watch new performances by friends and strangers.
Performance
Red-Light-Roxanne | Ian Giles
'Red-Light-Roxanne' is based on the team drinking game 'Roxanne' in which two teams of people drink a shot every time the words "Roxanne' or 'Red light' are sung during the 1978 Police song. Playing the game alone Giles drank a shot of alcohol on both "Roxanne' and 'Red light'. Each word is sung over 25 times. He did 49 shots and then was sick. The Wallis Gallery, London.