artsway’s new forest pavilion
a collateral event for the 53rd international art exhibition –
la biennale di venezia
jordan baseman | alex frost | dinu li | hannah maybank | nathaniel mellors
palazzo zenobio | fondamenta del soccorso | dorsoduro 2596 | venice | italy
open: 7 june 2009 – 28 june 2009
opening times: tuesday – sunday 10.00 – 18.00exhibitors day: wednesday 3 june 2009 10.00 – 18.00
vernissage (press & preview days): thursday 4, friday 5 and saturday 6 june 2009 10.00 – 18.00
press & arts professionals launch: saturday 6 june 2009 at 10.30 [prosecco and pastries will be served]
ArtSway is pleased to announce the third ‘ArtSway’s New Forest Pavilion’ at the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia and its second time as an official collateral event. Presented in partnership with the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, ArtSway’s New Forest Pavilion will show work by Jordan Baseman, Alex Forest, Dinu Li, Hannah Maybank and Nathaniel Mellors. Reflecting the Director of the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Daniel Birnbaum’s wish to emphasise the process of production, ArtSway brings works to the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia which have been commissioned by ArtSway to this international context.
Jordan Baseman’s films focus on Soho, the bohemian centre of London. Nasty Piece of Stuff (2009) recounts the first homosexual experience of long time Soho resident Alan Wakeman, distilled by Baseman from hours of interviews to an 8-minute film that is unflinching in its subject matter and honesty. Baseman was commissioned by ArtSway in collaboration with The Photographers’ Gallery in 2009.
The placement of Alex Frost’s sculptures, and his response to place, is crucial to their interpretation. Frost’s work is preoccupied with notions of adult sophistication remembered from his childhood in 1970s Britain. His signature large sculptural forms, covered in mosaic tiles, appear like ubiquitous packaging discarded by a giant hand. Alex Frost was in residence at ArtSway in 2007.
Dinu Li’s practice examines the relationship between the personal and the political. Li was in residence at ArtSway in Spring 2008, researching his new film Family Village (2008). For this film Li returned to China to explore themes connected to urbanism, heritage, architecture and cultural values, visiting and documenting one place in particular: British Town in Chengdu, a new development inspired by an English Christmas Card.
Hannah Maybank’s paintings contain areas of latex and acrylic, carefully cut and peeled to reveal strata of layers reflecting the contemplative beauty inherent in the natural world. Maybank’s works contain recurring motifs – such as trees and clouds; they speak of the growth and decay that surrounds us, embodying the rural location of ArtSway. Hannah Maybank was in residence at ArtSway in late 2007.
Nathaniel Mellors’ The Time Surgeon (2007), commissioned by ArtSway and the Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon 2007, is a film that utilizes place as a construct for the examination of absurdist language. The eponymous central character employs verbal descriptions of torture, in combination with the fast-forward and rewind buttons on his Sony portable, to send his tape-bound ‘Victim’ through significant historical events in time.
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ArtSway’s New Forest Pavilion is one of only two English official collateral events selected by Daniel Birnbaum, the Director of the 53rd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. ArtSway’s New Forest Pavilion is an international project funded by Arts Council England, Turning Point South East, the Arts Institute at Bournemouth and sponsored by Hallett Independent, with additional support from Hampshire County Council and the British Council and assistance from Sorcha Dallas, Gimpel Fils and Matt’s Gallery.
For media inquiries please contact:
Jack Lewis on +44 (0)1590 682260 (+6) or email: jack.lewis@artsway.org.uk
