Discover the work of 20 new photographers, painters, designers, animators, sculptors, illustrators and filmmakers. The WSD exhibition is the ideal opportunity to see new techniques and ideas explored by the next generation of artists, all graduates from Writtle's FdA Digital Art & Design and BA (Hons) Art & Design Practice courses. Many of the artworks on display are for sale and the artists regularly undertake commissions.
About the artists
This year's exhibiting students have already begun to establish themselves in the art and design worlds: Russell Broughton is currently undertaking a 20-panel site-specific commission for the frontage of the iconic Marconi building in Chelmsford, to mark the building's centenary this year; an installation by Liz Sterry, exploring social relations by reconstructing a stranger's bedroom from the traces she has left online, was recently exhibited at Furtherfield Gallery in London; and Rebecca Lee's work is now stocked and exhibited by Thirteen Brushes Art Gallery in Colchester.
The artworks on display show a wide range of influences that mix and meet in unusual, exciting ways:
Makeni Conteh has photographed half-human, half-animal hybrids captured in the wild; Charlene Roberts transforms the fragility of our social order into decorative textile and wallpaper designs; Nick Boyt’s experimental work finds the perfect balance between, of all things, sound, film and a bicycle; and Jordan Hollobaugh's animations reimagine Alice in Wonderland in Chelmsford’s own Golden Fleece pub.
Established genres of art are also pushed in new directions:
Wes Tyler paints pretty pictures of horrible things, sugar-coated eight-foot nightmares; Estella Cumberford’s explosively layered canvases focus on the themes of letting go and hiding in plain sight; Amy Popley’s paintings explore the way that colour impacts upon the viewer; Sam Sheppard has written a computer programme that can create one portrait from 12 individual faces; Mitchell Gosling is presenting a 'motion comic' where apocalyptic struggle is the norm and the world's end is nigh; and Pete Scott has created his own Western film with added 3-D computer modelling and an equal mix of violence, terror and mortality.
Issues of family and community are also explored:
Jane Speight's paintings explore the inner secrets of Essex celebrities; Rosa Pedro demonstrates the ethos of a shanty community through knitting unusual objects, such as a blanket that doubles as a wall; Kurt Moore investigates contemporary consumption and the food chain, bringing together a dining room with an octopus; Katy Woodgate explores a statement by influential gallerist Anthony D’Offay that “families find it hard to trust contemporary art - it tells the truth, even if it’s a slightly different truth”; and Tracy Vine has recreated an entire room from a person who has suddenly left – at one point everything had a purpose, but now what does the future hold?
More information
Images of the artists' work are on the exhibition website http://www.writtleart.org/wsd// and in depth information about their working practices and artist interviews are on the dedicated blog site: http://wsd2012.posterous.com/
Listings information:
Writtle School of Design End of Year Exhibition 2012
Opening hours:
Wednesday 16 May 10am – 4pm (Private View 5pm – 9pm)
Thursday 17 May 10am – 4pm
Friday 18 May, 10am – 3pm
Saturday 19 May, 10am – 4pm
Sunday20 May, closed
Monday 21 May, 10am – 4pm
Admission to the exhibition is free.
Contact details:
Writtle School of Design, Writtle College, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3RR
Telephone: 01245 424200, email: design@writtle.ac.uk, website: www.writtle.ac.uk/design