RENEE ODJIDJA: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

About

Private View: Friday 6th September | 6-9pm Exhibition runs: 06.09.13 - 21.09.13 BEARSPACE | 152 Deptford High St | SE8 3PQ www.bearspace.co.uk BEARSPACE is proud to present the work of Renee Odjidja, selected as the ACME artist in residence from the BA drawing, Camberwell College of Arts. BEARSPACE is happy to host the annual ACME artist in residence working from their Deptford based studios. Renee employs the use of flat pack furniture as her medium, in a way that moves on from the DIY manual and furniture outcomes we have become accustomed to. Renee ‘unpacks' the flat pack norms is to utilize the usually un-noticed parts of the ‘kit' as the striking feature of her sculptures. The processes behind her use of flat pack materials have a lot to do with recognising the patterns ingrained within furniture assembly, and re-orgainising these patterns to create a new, hybrid body of work. The artist's palette is that of a safety manual, signage or hazard. This is a language of colour based on practicality and instruction. In both colour and form the sculptures begin to tell a story. Renee's practice lends itself to Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the rhizome, as figured within their text A Thousand plateaus. The rhizome stands as a call for something new, something more productive. Renee's manipulation of the instructions manual explodes the usual use and form of the piece, referencing subtlety a rich variety of art history including the ever-reinvented Duchamp ready made to Sol le Witt's minimalist works. Instead of finding jarring elements to work together the artist subverts something in our everyday language. What this means for a practice in de- construction could be that by systematically dismantling the coded practice of furniture assembly, Renee in a sense uses the ‘part objects' of the flat pack furniture to produce new flows and states of intensity, that in this sense make the static furniture animate with signs produced by the re-organisation of the material pieces. Renee Odjidja was born in London, England in 1990 and currently lives and works in London. She holds a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Art and Design from Waltham Forest College (2009) and a BA (Hons) Drawing at Camberwell College of Arts (2012). She is currently on the Acme Camberwell Studio Award Residency 2012. Recent exhibitions include ‘Future Map 12' Central Saint Martins, Lethaby & Window Galleries, London (2013); Six from Twelve, Public House Projects, London (2012); CLASHANDCONVERGE II, Camberwell Space, London (2011); 'Peek Show', The Biscuit Factory, London (2011). Renee shares a large studio space with the recipient of the Chelsea studio award. Renee was selected for the 2012-13 Camberwell studio award by Tamiko O'Brian, Associate Dean Camberwell College of Arts and Jonathan Harvey Chief, ACME Studios, as she is approaching the end of her residential journey with ACME, BEARSPACE are proud to be showing the products of her residency and practice as an artist.