Acts of the Plough

About

Acts of the Plough is an exhibition that makes use of a peripheral outdoor space adjacent to a studio complex in South London. Being interested in finding and developing alternative space to make and display work, Holly Drewett, Fran Gordon, Ben McDonnell, Nemo Nonnenmacher and Joshua Phillips have identified an unused area of land and facade of a disused building to use as a platform for an exhibition of site responsive outdoor work. The building is due to be redeveloped and the exhibition aims to interrogate this ’in between’ as a creative opportunity.

The group of artists have been spending time in this space and in the run up to the opening of Art Licks Weekend: Peripheries used it as a short residency, making work that responds to the uniqueness of the site. As artists they have distinctive individual practices however the work is linked by a use of collage, manipulation and exploration of different print techniques and an interest in translation of visual material from one medium to another. They make use of different print techniques to work directly on the surfaces of the building and site as well as use of projections, light manipulation and a sound composition that responds to the sound of the architecture in the space.

Joshua Phillips graduated from Manchester School of Art in 2014 with a BA in Photography and from the Royal College of Art in 2017 with an MA in Photography. He is currently living and working in London where he maintains a studio practice. This year he has exhibited work and collaborated with curators and artists on exhibitions for Hamburg Photo Triennial, Lodz Fotofestiwal, Organ Vida Photography Festival and Landskrona Fotofestival.

Holly Drewett graduated with an MA Print from the Royal College of Art London, specialising in drawing, she trained in lithography, etching, screen print, and digital media manipulation. Her work has been widely exhibited including Mall Galleries, London, Kingsgate Project Space, London, The Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, and South Hill Park Art Centre, Bracknell to name a few. Holly has participated in Art fairs including Multiplied and Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair where she was awarded the East London Printmakers Prize in 2017.

Ben Mcdonnell’s practice stems from the development of a relationship between sound and still image, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2017, his undergraduate degree was music performance and composition from Leeds College of Music in 2004. Ben has taught photography at the University of Salford, had his research published in Sculptorvox magazine. In 2018 Ben was awarded a studio residency with Outset Contemporary Art Fund and commissioned to make a large scale site specific work for Peckham24.

Fran Gordon graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2014 and from MA Print at Royal College of Art in 2017. Fran’s practice explores print and materiality through many processes such as layering, multiplying or reproducing, using various mediums from sculpture and ceramics to printmaking and painting. Fran was shortlisted for New Contemporaries 2018, and has exhibited in Scotland, London, Canada and Barcelona. She has also completed residencies at MANY Studios, Hospitalfield Arts and Scottish Sculpture Workshop.

Nemo Nonnenmacher uses print, sculpture and installation to imagine the space between human hand and the language of machines. Nemo graduated from Royal College of Art in 2017, recently won the Travers Smith Art Prize and has been Radical Resident at Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop. From 2012 to 2017 he has been a fellow of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, exhibiting throughout the UK and Europe, including the Schleuse Opelvillen in Rüsselsheim, Germany in 2017 and the Fondazione Fotografia in Modena, Italy in 2016. Most recently, his works were included Invasive Behaviour at Co-Play and the Summer Show at Workshop Foundation in London.