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Blog

EM18 Graduate Project - Sixth Interview - James Handley

October 27, 2018 Surface Gallery
James Handley Workshop Image.jpg

AS PART OF THE EM18 GRADUATE PROJECT, WHERE RECENT GRADUATES ARE OFFERED A RESIDENCY IN OUR PROJECT SPACE FOR THE MONTH, WE’RE INTERVIEWING THE ARTISTS ABOUT THEIR PRACTICE AND THEIR VIEWS ON ART AS A WHOLE. OUR SIXTH INTERVIEW IS WITH JAMES HANDLEY.

For those who don’t know who you are, can you tell us a little about yourself, and your practice as an artist?

I’m James Handley, I am 24 and graduated from Nottingham Trent University this year. I’m often drawn to the negation of social interactions and of artistic expressions. I see my work as an enquiry into the unexamined life, everyday life being something I see as a heavily abstract social organism. The method is; Deconstruct, Reconstruct.

Having come out of university, have you noticed any differences between working as a student artist, and creating your work for a wider, public market?

Art in the public market is very aesthetic, you need something to draw people in. As a student some people, including me, thought this took away from the message of the artwork. I still do to an extent, but it’s naïve to think that people will only want to see ideas in work, that’s high fine-art and is more often pretentious. As a student you look at everything to make sense of what you’re making, e.g; only making work for yourself. The world is your oyster in that respect. When I was at university, I wanted everything I made to have a reason or rationality behind it and confront others with my thoughts, that was highly conceptual. That’s not how the art market works, you need to make it palatable for people to get behind or they lose interest. So, I’ve been focusing on sneaky conceptualism, mine being negation. So, I make paintings with large empty spaces that take up most of the space, showing that the opposite of making (sometimes destroying) is still important in regard to the composition.

Simply, after coming out of Uni I’ve had to be smarter in how I create something with an idea whilst also making it engaging for the audience.

When did you first involve yourself with the art scene? Was this due to your educational experiences, or were you inspired from other parts of your life?

It would have been at Nottingham Trent University. I had always been interested in art but I had never been with other creative people until then. The art side of my life had always been self-directed compared to others whose entire lives were artistic. Mine only really got started 5 years ago.

During this residency, what are your plans? How are you using this time at Surface?

To explore the unexamined. The unexamined fitting my practice of negation as both are seen as null. Why would you look into something that you haven’t thought about? Just like the stuff you haven’t really had to think about. I’m also using this time to experiment on the public a tiny bit, using unconscious acts and making them conscious. It’s rather imposing, but it gets easier as the days go on.

Where else have you exhibited, and other than the EM18 Show on 2nd November, do you have any future exhibitions?

I’ve exhibited in Liverpool at the Trophy Room (which has now closed) earlier this year. The exhibition was using the space to make the painting become the space; think how most paintings in a museum just become part of the furniture. Apart from that, I have been part of Of a Curious Nature which was also at Surface. I approached people during the show with a bright light and tried to keep eye contact. That was a load of fun. Except for those, I haven’t got any plans in the future after this show.

As a final question I’ve asked everyone I’ve interviewed, what do you think is the future of the arts? And if you had infinite resources, what kind of work would you make in that future?

For the future of arts? Death maybe? How do you keep making things knowing all the market wants are nice objects? That’s not actually how I feel, but more interesting things are happening outside the traditional ways of art. Collectives and happenings are more prevalent than sculpture and paintings these days. People want stories or concepts more than nice objects. Assemble and Paul Iago come to mind. And then there’s the need for challenging narratives, art can only be political and social now. Everything you choose has a connotation that you cannot escape. You use cement? Is that a comment on building on greenbelt land or a glamorizing of the brutalist architecture that is now used in many council apartments? It’s no longer the case that materials make nice things, because those things now have meaning on their own. Art for art’s sake is dead, thank god.

In the future, I want to explore this infinitude of possibilities in different ways, might be paintings, might be a book of some sort. All I know is that the things I’m interested in are still there and are full of potential personally. The negation is overpopulated with possibilities.

Thank you very much James! You can see their work at the opening PENUMBRA!

← EM18 Graduate Project - Seventh Interview - Anne StansfieldEM18 Graduate Project - Fifth Interview - Elizabeth Gray →

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we are still working hard at getting your postcards sent back to you but Surface Gallery are happy to announce the winners of the International Postcard Show 2019!🌟⁣
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In first place we have Ilan Garibi with The World is Not Flat!⁣
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In second place we have Juliet James for Fancy Pants 2!⁣
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and finally, last but not least, in third place we have Jennifer Hanu for Postcards to my Family!⁣
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all the artists are tagged in this post so go and check out their work! congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to everyone who entered! we had some amazing entries this year and it was very hard to pick just three ✨
Surface Gallery x UK Young Artists Takeover 🔥 
come see some flamin’ art at our opening. 
going on until 8pm! 🌊

#ukyatakeover #art #comtemporaryart #nottinghamart #nottinghamartgallery #surfacegallery
Thanks to everyone who came to our Make Your Mark workshop yesterday, what a great turn out! So many awesome, experimental artworks were created and fun was had by all! ☺️🎨✂️✏️🌈⁣
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#workshop #makeyourmark #surfacegallery #nottingham #nottinghamevents #nottinghamartists #nottinghamart #notts #nottslife #creativequarternottingham #sneintonmarket #creativeworkshop #artworkshop #marbling #collage #printmaking #poetry
Sneak preview of what you can get up to this Saturday at our Make Your Mark workshop! ⁣
Drop in 2-4pm for a mix of printmaking, marbling, poetry and collage. ⁣
£5 suggested donation, refreshments provided. ⁣
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#printmaking #collage #marbling #poetry #makeyourmark #nottingham #notts #whatsonnotts #nottinghamevents #workshop #creativeworkshop #creativequarternotts #nottinghamartists #nottinghamart #surfacegallery #postcard #postcardart
Hit List: A Solo Exhibition by Tom Van Herrewege⁣
12th - 26th January⁣
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Opening Night: Friday 11th January, 6-9pm 🌟🌟⁣
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Surface Gallery is pleased to welcome Tom Van Herrewege, and his solo exhibition, Hit List. Since Spring 2017, Van Herrewege has been working on a large series of works entitled Hit List. Images of endangered animals have been sourced from sets of old cigarette cards and encyclopedia pages, some of these more than one hundred years old. The images have then been partially burnt away, representing the conservation status of each animal on the IUCN list of threatened species. The more the image is burnt away, the closer the individual animal is to extinction. The image is burnt away in order to represent humankind’s impact; we are the only animal that can produce fire. It also serves as a reminder that one day we may not, literally, be able to see these animals. ⁣
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The majority of animals represented in Van Herrewege’s Hit List are now endangered within their natural habitats. Most of the cigarette cards represent the more popular and better known larger animals. If they were to represent the smaller animals, such as amphibians, marine life, and a huge variety of other species that go unconsidered, then the animal imagery burnt away would be far greater. ⁣
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Artist Talk and Workshop⁣
Saturday 19th January, 2 - 4pm⁣
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As Tom discusses his project, you will be invited to research animal species and their ecological status and you will also have the opportunity to create your own artworks. Tom will be discussing his practice and methods of working and will be happy to help you try this out for yourself. Tablets will be available, although participants are also free to use their smartphones to research various species. All other materials will be provided.
To coincide with the opening of The International Postcard Show 2019, we will be offering a multi-disciplinary drop-in workshop, Make Your Mark. ⁣ ⁣
Our fab studio artists and volunteers will show you a variety of artistic techniques where you’ll get to make your own postcards, inspired by the wonderful work of everyone who has submitted to the show. ⁣ ⁣
What you’ll learn: ⁣
🌟 Printmaking ⁣
🌟 Collage ⁣
🌟 Marbling ⁣
🌟 Poetry ⁣ ⁣
What you’ll get: ⁣
🌈 A ‘variety pack’ of postcards to take home with you ⁣
🌈 All materials provided to make your multi-media, experimental postcards ⁣
🌈 Hot & cold drinks, cake and bikkies ⁣
🌈 Great company! ⁣ ⁣
Suggested donation £5, cash only. ⁣ ⁣
Children are invited to attend but must be supervised by an adult at all times. ⁣ ⁣
Saturday 12th January 2019 ⁣
2-4pm, drop-in ⁣ ⁣
Surface Gallery ⁣
16 Southwell Road ⁣
Nottingham NG1 1DL ⁣
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#surfacegallery #nottingham #whatsonnottingham #nottinghamshire #nottinghamevents #nottinghamworkshop #notts #creativequarternottingham #sneintonmarket #workshop #creativeworkshop #internationalpostcardshow #makeyourmark #printmaking #marbling #collage #poetry
Just 1 week left to enter and send in your submissions to our annual International Postcard Show! If you still haven’t sent us your submissions, then you still have time to get them in! We have received many fantastic and creative postcards so far, so thank you to those who have already posted your work to us 📮
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The deadline for submissions is the Friday 4th of January at 6pm! ⁣
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Leave us a “🌟” in the comments if you have already submitted or are in the process of sending us your submissions, we would love to see who is entering!!!⁣
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#makegreatart #internationalpostcardshow2019 #surfacegallery #nottingham #ipsc2019 #postcards #international #gallery #annualpostcardshow

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NG1 1DL
Tel: 0115 947 0793
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