Backdrop Commission: The Grantchester Pottery

About

Jerwood Visual Arts is delighted to present the inauguralBackdrop Commission by The Grantchester Pottery, an artistic collaboration between sculptor Giles Round and painter Phil Root.

Established in 2011, The Grantchester Pottery takes the structural framework of a decorative arts studio. Drawing upon historical precedents such as Rebel Arts Centre, Hammer Prints and Atelier Martine for a point of conceptual departure, The Grantchester Pottery produce decorative domestic objects including utilitarian ceramics, woven textiles, painted furniture and murals. They seek to substitute, wherever possible, the expressive quality of the artist’s handling for the deadness of mechanical reproduction.

For the Backdrop Commission The Grantchester Pottery have developed a new artwork, Kyoto, 2004, a large-scale reproduction of a hand-painted collage that utilises a cut-out technique characteristic of the duo’s collaborative practice. The collaged composition reflects Jerwood Spaces’ commitment to nurturing theatre and dance by considering the illusory nature of the stage, drawing inspiration from the painted stage works of David Hockney and Japanese architecture. The resulting artwork, reminiscent of early modernist compositions, recreates an interior as flat abstraction.

Printed onto aluminum panels, the piece is 6 metres wide by 2.4 metres high and sits adjacent to the glasshouse and Café 171. The Backdrop Commission initiative references the activities and community of Jerwood Space, which is widely recognised as one of the best rehearsal spaces for theatre and dance in the country.