CAMDEN Arts Centre has announced its exhibition programme for 2014.
Silke Otto-Knapp – January 17 to March 30 (Galleries 1 and 2).
German artist Silke Otto-Knapp (b.1970) tackles the tradition of romantic landscape painting through the constraints of stage design, to question issues of decorative surface, spatial depth and pictorial construction.
Rendered almost entirely in black and silver pigments creating a stage-lit effect, the monochrome compositions in this new body of work address the visual contrivances in performance and landscape, with a particular focus on lighting.
Nina Canell – January 17 to March 30 (Gallery 3).
Swedish artist Nina Canell (b.1979) makes work which plays at the edges of sculpture, giving substance to the intangible and lightness to the physical. Canell’s unorthodox use of objects and materials attempts to articulate our intuitive understanding of the world around us.
Transforming electrical currents, atmospheric elements, watermelon seeds, or chewing gum into sculptural components, her assemblages fuse matter, light and sound to create delicate and ephemeral testing grounds.
Moyra Davey – April 11 to June 15 (Galleries 1 and 2).
Photographer, filmmaker and writer Moyra Davey (b. Canada, 1958), works across mediums to create intimate visual essays on the passing of time in the everyday and her personal relationship with literature.
Along with four influential video works the show will bring together two major bodies of recent work: Subway Writers, a series of 75 photographs of commuters writing on the New York subway, and her extensive ongoing series that autobiographically draws on her fascination with Mary Wollstonecraft and the Shelleys.
Phillip Lai – April 11 to June 15 (Gallery 3).
London-based artist Phillip Lai (b. Malaysia 1969) will respond to the space of Gallery 3 with a new sculptural work. Lai’s work explores themes including occupancy, itinerancy, estrangement and otherness. Within his practice, space and situation are considered as sculptural material.
His new commission for Camden extends ideas from his recent work, including Co-presence, 2012 in which swathes of jute were hung over a suspended rope line. This apparently functional arrangement of material emphasised a sense of inhabitation within a space of labour, whilst cymbals hung at intervals marked the potential for noise, disobedience and play.
Shelagh Wakely – June 27 to September 7 (Across all galleries).
This is a major exhibition of work by British artist Shelagh Wakely (1932-2011), providing a rare opportunity to encounter the ephemeral magic of her work in which simple images and forms blossom into myriad meanings and associations, imbued with her receptivity to the material world, her observation of nature and the emotional and sensual experiences it evokes.
The exhibition will be developed with her friend and collaborator, the Brazilian artist Tunga. It will include print, video, unfired ceramics, a series of delicate drawings in pencil and wire, and an intricate floor installation. The show will also include other artists with whom Wakely shared creative concerns as well as a younger generation who acknowledge her legacy and her inspiration for their work.
Glenn Ligon – September 19 to November 23 (Across all galleries).
Pioneering artist Glenn Ligon (b.USA, 1960) works across different media, including painting, neon lights, installations, videos and printing, to critically explore race and homosexuality throughout American heritage. He is best known for his text-based paintings, which draw on the writings and speech of diverse figures including Jean Genet, Zora Neale Hurston, Jesse Jackson, and Richard Pryor.
Ligon draws from American history, literature, and society to recontextualise the legacies of specific texts, modern painting and more recent conceptual artworks, whilst reflecting on his own artistic origins.
Camden Arts Centre is a venue for contemporary visual art and education, where ideas are made visible and people of all ages and abilities can engage in the creative process of making art.
Camden Arts Centre’s pioneering and varied programme of artist-led courses and other education activities has gained an international reputation as a model of good practice. It is known as a forward-thinking organisation where artists and others can see, make and talk about art.
Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 6pm; Wednesdays late, 10am – 9pm; closed Mondays.
Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Road, London, NW3 6DG
T: +44 (0)20 7472 5500
F: +44 (0)20 7472 5501
Website: www.camdenartscentre.org/