19 November 2022 – 5 March 2023, Aberdeen Art Gallery
Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open, the latest special exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery, showcases new work by outstanding early-career artists and makers Anna Berry, Cecilia Charlton, Jahday Ford, Vicky Higginson and Francisca Onumah and Helena Russell. The five commissions provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting new work being produced by UK-based artists and makers.
Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open is a collaboration between Jerwood Arts and Art Fund in partnership with Aberdeen Art Gallery. The prestigious biennial award supports artist development, commissioning and national touring, and champions artists and makers across the UK at a pivotal point in their practice, encouraging critical debate, visibility and dialogue around contemporary craft and applied arts within UK public collections. It is committed to strengthening the profile and importance of making, craft and applied arts presented within a visual arts context.
The exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery is curated by Svetlana Panova, Curator and Project Coordinator, who is based at Aberdeen Art Gallery in a role co-funded by Jerwood Arts and Art Fund to support curatorial development in the field of visual arts, crafts and applied art in museums and galleries. The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication detailing the commissions through interviews with the artists. Curator Svetlana Panova will lead a Meet the Artists event at Aberdeen Art Gallery on the opening day of the exhibition, Saturday 19 November, at 2pm.
This eighth edition of Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open showcases a broad range of material disciplines, including glass, textiles, digital modelling, silversmithing and sculptural installation. Although working across a variety of mediums and processes, the makers explore some common themes across their works such as the relationship between digital technology and traditional techniques, the potential of repetition in making, the power of tools, and the rich history of their material practices.
The exhibition allows research, concepts and experimentation to shine alongside the extraordinary craftmanship of the objects created by the selected artists and makers. Giving the awardees an extended production period for this edition has proven key in developing their ideas on an even more significant level, marking the start of projects and explorations, which will expand past these commissions.
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Anna Berry presents new sculptural work using her signature geometric visual vocabulary and repetitive processes using cones as a way of creating a three-dimensional structure. Focussing on clay and concrete as her core materials, both of which are new to Berry’s practice, the piece looks at ideas of balance, power and precarity – how two materials at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their fragility can exist within the same structure. Conceptually, the works propose that ideas that can be a force for good can also become tyrannical when balance is lost. annaberry.co.uk
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Cecilia Charlton displays her largest work to date: a human-size abstract triptych of Bargello embroideries, inspired by the Greek myth of the Three Fates who spin, allot and cut the Thread of Life. Each panel presents the characteristics of one of the Fates, with a unique combination of colour palette and stitch patterns. The embroidery is stretched over a gilded surface, allowing for the negative spaces in the work to glisten through. Charlton uses the Three Fates to reflect on the different stages of human life and the paths one has to walk through it, forcing us to examine our place on the planet and our relationships to one another. ceciliacharlton.com
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Jahday Ford displays a family of large glass vessels, which combine ancient techniques with contemporary innovations to challenge what is possible with the material today. Interested in exploring the relationships between the digital and the hand-made form, the works extend Ford’s current glass investigations into processes such as 3D Modelling and using CNC mould production alongside traditionally hand-blown elements. His installation comprises of three distinct groups of coloured glass works, with one interactive piece using LED sensors to illuminate when visitors are within a close proximity of it in the gallery space. jahdayfordglass.co.uk
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Vicky Higginson’s commission for the exhibition is a set of varied healing devices imagined to treat emotional ailments. Made through combining hand-blown and cold-worked glass elements in a variety of bold colours, the pieces are presented on custom made metal stands and plinths. Inspired by research into the shape and function of historic medical instruments the devices include: ear trumpets, to hear things left unsaid; a pestle and mortar, to break up bad thoughts; an anaesthesia inhaler; and a violet ray machine. Continuing her exploration into ‘Folk Futurism’ the objects on display look at the meeting point of folklore and fairy tales with science fiction. New techniques developed for this commission showcase the use of feathers, mirroring, and symbolic mark-making. vickyhigginson.com
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Working in collaboration and using a hoard of old silversmithing tools as a starting point, Francisca Onumah and Helena Russell’s installation comprises of three elements coming together in the gallery space. Central to the work is a collection of five collaboratively made vessels in copper and silver, displayed on one large plinth. Alongside this, the pair display a series of found tools they have refurbished and repurposed to make the vessels, and aspects of their research into the past, present and future of the silversmithing industry in Sheffield, where they are both based. Through this commission Onumah and Russell have documented the personal histories of three Sheffield-based silversmiths, who have been involved in the industry in different capacities throughout most of their careers. The project aims to challenge ideas of ‘preciousness’ and whether it sits with the final product or the making process itself. franciscaonumah.co.uk helenarussell.co.uk
Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open recognises and promotes the significance of making practice and process within contemporary visual arts. It gives exceptional artists and makers the opportunity to develop their creative ideas independently, enabling them to experiment, learn and take risks at a pivotal moment in their careers. The awardees are able to explore their ideas outside of commercial pressures, with dedicated developmental, curatorial and production support from Jerwood.
Councillor Martin Greig, Aberdeen City Council culture spokesman, said, “Aberdeen Art Gallery has been renowned as a home for contemporary art and design ever since it opened its doors in 1885. It’s great to maintain this tradition by welcoming back the prestigious Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open. This is a splendid display of new work. I hope as many people as possible will visit the exhibition to enjoy the wonderful exhibition. It is especially good to see these recently created pieces placed alongside carefully selected items from the established collection. This gives us an opportunity to make connections across time with artists and designers from the past. Making those links with Christopher Dresser, the Qing dynasty embroidery and other museum treasures helps us to appreciate the imagination and creativity of the Jerwood artists.”
Lilli Geissendorfer, Director, Jerwood Arts, said: “Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open creates a vital space for early-career artists and makers to experiment, learn, and take risks with their work. Working with lead partner Aberdeen Art Gallery has revealed new knowledge, networks and connections to the city’s rich applied art collections that have supported the artists throughout the development of their work for this exhibition. Jerwood Arts and Art Fund have been delighted to co-fund a dedicated curatorial role held by Svetlana Panova to guide this project, investing in essential talent development opportunities in the curatorial sector. We are excited to share the exhibition with audiences in Aberdeen, and to connect with timely dialogue on the importance of making and skills in contemporary visual arts practice in Scotland.”
Rachael Browning, Deputy Director of Programmes and Policy, Art Fund, said: “Art Fund is delighted to have continued its collaboration with Jerwood Arts and to work with lead partner Aberdeen Art Gallery to see the eight edition of Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open come to fruition. The latest exhibition showcases the creative and ambitious work of incredible artists at an early stage in their careers, championing the importance of crafts and applied arts. Art Fund is also grateful to have co-funded with Jerwood Arts a new curatorial role to support the curation and development of the award.”
The artists were selected from over 500 applications by an independent panel comprising: Christine Rew, formerly Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Manager; Yinka Ilori, artist and designer; Junko Mori, artist maker in metal; Dame Magdalene Odundo, potter; and Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts at Jerwood Arts. In recognition of the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, for this edition the awardees receive an increased award of £10,000 each plus curatorial and production support from the Jerwood Arts team to enable the making of new work over an extended twelve-month period.