UCA Farnham Fine Art Student Success - Adam Kelly

UCA Farnham Fine Art student, Adam Kelly who graduated in 2012, has work in the group exhibition Lucy In The Sky, as Transition Gallery, London from 5 June until 5th July.

This is Adam's 20th exhibition since graduating.

UCA Farnham Fine Art Student Success - Louisa Chambers at Transition Gallery, Salon 6 & Winkworth Festival

UCA Farnham Fine Art student, Louisa Chambers who graduated in 2005 has work in a group exhibition at Transition Gallery until 12th October. 
Louisa also has works currently being exhibited at Salon 6 in Derbyshire and also at the Winkworth Festival.

UCA Farnham Fine Art Student Success - Isaac Willis

UCA Farnham Fine Art student Issac Willis, who graduated this June has curated a group exhibition at Transition Gallery, London entitled "Language Fails'. The group of artists met in Vienna whilst Isaac was taking part in the UCA Farnham erasmus exchange programme for semester 2 of year 2 at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Transition Gallery

Language Fails

Laura Hinrichsmeyer / Anna Rettl / Anna Schachinger / Issac Willis

23 August – 14 September 2014
Preview: Friday 22 August, 6-9pm
Gallery Open: Fri-Sun 12-6pm

Language Fails examines painting’s intrinsic qualities where written language falls short. Offering up different modes of production, Language Fails explores the way we see images in the advent of screen technology, and how painting fits into this world.

Isaac Willis uses painting as a method of research and enquiry directly into the relationship paint has to on-screen technologies. His paintings stand as part visualized research and part painterly paintings, reflecting this new age of image culture that is dominated by screen technology.

www.transitiongallery.co.uk

http://cargocollective.com/isaacwillis/ 

UCA Farnham Fine Art Student Profile 2014 - Isaac Willis

Please tell us what your work is about

I define myself as a painter, so the substance and materiality of paint and the creation of images on surface is my focus. I am concerned with the way we see and engage with painting, as a response to exploring the way we see colour/images on screens in the "Post Internet era". I feel there is a lot of impetus for making work about this subject as the world of image production has changed so completely and radically since the invention and democratisation of the media via the internet and the digital era. I feel this is an important subject to broach and reaffirm painting's relevance in this digital and post-internet age.

Surface is important and my exhibition work started from drawings on semi-translucent paper, in an effort to replicate the sheer smoothness of the surface of the paper, I started to work on aluminium. This allowed me to suspend all the interventions of surface texture which come into painting such as canvas weave, canvas sagging, and flexibility of support. The work itself developed from looking at images of paintings online and examining how the images are made up, from pixels, and the patterns and colourings which create the illusion of an image, with all of the problems of image resolution and being able to zoom in on images where they are a different image in themselves.

Did you encounter any problems?

Ultimately the aluminium proved troubling due to its unforgiving nature and the time constraints to make paintings in limited months for the final exhibition. There were also issues with the edges of the work, which I solved by making the frames behind them smaller than the panels, which allowed them to float on the wall, a key factor in replicating the image of screens.

Practically speaking there are many painters who I regard in highly, Martin Kippenberger and Gerhard Richter being two important ones, but also I find Titian never really leaving the sphere of interests. Kippenberger's absolute refusal of 'styles' and his haphazard and impulsive paintings (and life) are very important to me. Gerhard Richter is of importance for his adaptation of contemporary modes of image production (the advent of a mass cheap media) in the form. His absolutely massive oeuvre is also of interest, and he's never stopped working.

What at UCA Farnham has ben the most helpful for your practice?

I think the most helpful thing for me for my degree here at Farnham would be the opportunity to visit Vienna. It completely matured me as a painter and helped lead me to working in a more considered manner. I think the opportunity for artists visits and talks is also something which is largely beneficial. I learnt the complexities of hanging work, taking into accord every element that is in the room to enable you to make the best and most considered hang you can get for your work. There is no room for doing things without a reason in this respect.

So what happens next?

I will build on my experience of exhibiting in past shows such as "The Owl Service" at Transition Gallery, and "What the Shop" in Vienna. I also have upcoming shows at Bearspace and "Language Fails" at Transition Gallery. I'm planning to get a studio and slug it out for a couple of years, then start to move into applying for a master's at places I have in mind. 

60 Second Interview from earlier this year

http://cargocollective.com/isaacwillis/Home

Year 2 Students work with Artist Paul Kindersley

Over the last week Year 2 students at UCA Farnham led by Laura Olohan worked with the artist Paul Kindersley on two separate projects exploring identity and performance. 

Sluice Art Fair 2013

Held at this event in Bermondsey where a range of galleries participate in the "We Make Cinema" performance.

Transition Gallery

"Ornament" took place at Bond Street and was organised by the Transition Gallery in East London, curated by Kathy Lomax.