The other night I spoke at an event about pop-up art spaces, organised by Be Smart About Art. One of the organisers was Sasha Stoddard, who asked me to feature her event, which opens in late April. During the session we discussed which pop-ups worked best, and we all agreed that an unusual location is important; it's great that Sasha is doing hers in a tea house!
"Joshua Vaughn and Sasha Stoddard present their curatorial debut, Foundations, an exhibition featuring a group of ambitious young art students, from four London universities, exploring the growing and changing practices of each as they develop their individual artistic styles. Foundations will run from April 30th to May 20th at Yumchaa teahouse on Tottenham Street.
Kat King is an animator, currently studying at Middlesex University after having completed a Fine Arts Foundation Degree at Byam Shaw Art School, Central St. Martins. With a characteristic dislike of high tech methods of animation, she crafts poignant and haunting explorations of the human condition through site specific installation art, combining lo-tech animation with large scale drawing and painting. Her influences range from Jan Svankmajer and Tim Burton to Alice and Wonderland, the illustrations of which have captured the minds of generations of artists. Her interests in psychology and self-perception lend a scope and depth to her work that is conveyed on a subtle, provocative level.
James Boman is studying sculpture at Central St. Martins. His primary concern is an exploration of found object sculpture in a uniquely expressive and quirky manner. His broad concern is with the ‘secret lives of everyday objects’, taking the unknown history of an object and rewriting it, bringing an unnoticed element of the object to life by a simple change of context. His unique take on, and transformation of, found objects such as toys, kitsch ornaments, and bike parts offers the viewer a beguiling and encompassing naivety and an absorbing sense of mystery.
Katie Kelsey, former Foundation student of Byam Shaw Art School CSM, is currently studying book conservation at Camberwell College of Arts. Her current work is based around the construction and interpretation of books, involving a strong craft element along with a 2D sensibility. Her work is evocative and emotionally complex, exploring topics ranging from the Sonnets of Shakespeare to the life of St. Sebastian. She is influenced by Sir Francis Bacon, as evidenced by the saturation of colour and abstracted treatment of the human form in her work.
Bridget Swann, also a former Foundation student of Byam Shaw, is a painter currently studying Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School. Citing artists such as Edvard Munch, Gerard Richter and Haye Donachie as pivotal influences, she creates emotionally charged paintings in a distinctive figurative style. Through her manipulation of tonal abstraction she tinges nostalgic paintings with uncertainty; she describes the passing of time and of memory with a striking and original voice, evoking a great deal of thought and sympathy in her viewers.
Jack Bullen is currently studying at City and Guilds of London Art School. In the midst of a study of Laban’s choreographic theories, he is concerned with the understanding of motion in painted and etched media. Citing artists such as Frank Aeurbach and the early works of Piet Mondrian, he attempts to simplify the human form to allow the viewer to focus entirely on movements transcribed in the work.
After completing a foundation degree at Byam Shaw Art School, CSM, Josh Vaughan is currently studying at City and Guilds of London Art School. He is concerned with the complexity of human interaction, more specifically with contributing to ever evolving formal languages that express that interaction. Influences as wide as martial arts, the philosophy of Sartre and Kundera, and literature in general inform his practice, as well as a desire to understand self-awareness. He looks to the work of Mark Manders and Juan Munoz as he builds upon his style to help him gain respect for the power the human form has to speak to audiences on a subconscious level.
An Arkansas, USA native and graduate in English and Art History from Henderson State University , Sasha Stoddard moved to London in 2009 to join her husband and begin a career in the arts. She currently works in Client Development at the Hua Gallery in Battersea and as an Assistant Coordinator with the Be Smart About Art Academy. After Foundations she will be assisting with a show called project:ON in July as well as looking for other free-lance curation projects."
When - 30th April - 20th May
Where - Yumchaa teahouse, 9-11 Tottenham Street, London W1T 2AQ
Link - Facebook
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