PRESS RELEASE
Oxford, 06 April 2010
Encounters at Wheatley
Striking contemporary art in a traditional Manor House garden.
Imagine a lovingly cultivated traditional garden in a 500 year old Manor House in June, now add bold and provocative sculptures made by teninternational contemporary artists … and welcome to the exciting art event “Encounters” organized by the art consultancy “Notfamousyet” at Wheatley Manor, a village close to Oxford! One night and one day only will the show be staged, from the 12 to the 13th of June, which coincides with the National Open Garden scheme.
“Encounters” shows how exciting international contemporary art can deliver a stimulating contrast to a traditional very English setting. Many of the exhibited art works were specially created this event, others were carefully selected to correspond to special areas of the garden. Amidst the garden the visitor will find stunning large playful sculptures, delicate ceramic objects, sound installations. It will be also an encounter with surprising materials: textiles in the shape of fruits, clay that is left unfired and therefore pro to decline, an army of wooden wedges, and colourful laces or should we say tree bondages.
Each work corresponds to the special place in the garden and by this impacts on and changes the place and the experience of the visitor.
The artists are from Oxford, the wider UK, Europe and Asia. Whereas some are just in the beginning of their first career, others can already look back to successes in the past, what they have in common: they are all exceptional, original and unique.
Visitors will find Jenny Ford’s stunning nature like designs - exuberant, abstract forms in hand-dyed and stitched silk velvet, organza and found mixed media.
Candida Powell-Williams creates large sculptures that are full of mischievous humour; they bring back memory when “playing” was still the allowed centre of our lives.
Roger Perkins presents an installation of the unfired pots positioned around the pool. The tension here is created by the vulnerability of the material and the replica of classical Greek vases that would normally signal a long ancient history.
Jacob Wolff translates modernist idea into contemporary language. He follows the formal aesthetics, carefully orchestrates colours and lines, but injects every day topics.
James Winnett will create a large pyramid sculpture developed in response to the 19th century Lock Up in Wheatley which was used for the temporary detainment of local people accused of antisocial behaviour.
Jane Wafer’s 'We Can Fix It' uses industrial and domestic materials in an endeavour to 'fix' dead trees. The construction of animal-like joints and spines enables them to twist and turn, introducing energy and flexibility into their rigid forms.
Kay Sentance’s love to theatre can be seen in her installation around the mulberry tree. It shows how something very familiar is seen in a total different perspective when seen in an unfamiliar setting.
Michi Suzuki’s beautiful ceramic sculptures seem to be a perfect imitation of the garden life, but on a second look they actually use the plant life - growth, energy, fertility and decay - as a reflection of the human conditions,.
Ellie Reid finds beauty in discarded material and builds pieces of stunning elegance. Via the structuring and destructuring of her work she relates to our own human condition and the way in which we connect to both each other and the matter that surrounds us.
John Routledge's 'Hemisphere' is polished steel and red plastic. The shiny surface reflects the garden, the leaves and the light. It is an intriguing piece of technology that plays with nature, and still points to the beauty of mechanical objects.
Opening times:
Saturday, 12 June, 4 to 10 pm (invitation only)
Sunday, 13 June, 2 to 6 pm (Open Garden as part of NGS)
£ 4.- entry on Sunday
Wheatley Manor
High Street
Wheatley, OX33 1XX
Tel: 01865 247901