Paul Grellier: Hand-Tools-Matter

About

Paul Grellier’s upcoming solo exhibition ‘Hand-Tools-Matter’ presents a body of new and previously unseen work at All Saints, a former church near Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.

The artist will also be in residence for three weeks, producing new work and mystery performances or events on site, drawing on the history of the building and its former incarnation as a workhouse.

Grellier, who studied alongside Gillian Wearing and other YBAs, is well-known for his large, semi-kinetic sculptures involving heavy blocks of salvaged stone and agricultural steel floating in space, and for his “Suspended” installations.

Challenging our assumptions about the possible uses, history or behaviour of heavy objects and redundant or rural objects, Paul Grellier has been producing surprising and counterintuitive sculpture in stone, metal and wood since the 1990s.

Often drawing from his personal and professional experiences including a rural childhood and interests ranging from medical instruments to shamanism, Grellier’s pioneering and intriguing creations invite audiences to explore imaginary realms and peer beneath the visible and ordinary surfaces of things.

Hand-Tools-Matter​ represents a shift in his practice. The new collection is a development of smaller scale work, featuring predominantly wall-based pieces. The new work has been in production for the past year, developing out of his studio at The Camp in the Cotswolds.