PROGNOSTIC BRIDEWELL

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PROGNOSTIC BRIDEWELL 4 — 28 March 2010 Curated by Wayne Lucas, Winner of the 2010 A.P.T Enables exhibition bursary Damian Le Bas, Delaine Le Bas, Wayne Lucas, Tim Spooner, Jacqueline Utley Artist Wayne Lucas nearly died last year. He didn't, which is why he's still able to eat, breath, sleep and present the exhibition PROGNOSTIC BRIDEWELL. In this his first foray into curating Lucas attempts to reconsider his own practice through the activities of his favourite artists working now. Part challenge to the tedious orthodoxy of the solo show and part simple homage to the cathartic, vicarious activities of others, PROGNOSTIC BRIDEWELL explores the fragility of assembly within an explosive milieu of colour, restlessness, humour and frustrated desire. Lucas's selection enlivens and illuminates aspects of his own work without ever straying into the territory of self-aggrandisement, illustration or introverted self-obsession. The artist posing as curator is still a potent counterpoint to the assumed power of the title and Lucas' intuitive abilities as an artist are here complimented by the work of Damian Le Bas, Delaine Le Bas, Tim Spooner and Jacqueline Utley. In this intimate gathering of other voices Lucas implicitly asks the audience to consider the public and private life of the artist; one that relies on constant negotiations of mutual critical support and solo ritual in order to make the next ‘thing'. Beyond this PROGNOSTIC BRIDEWELL strays into a darker aesthetic realm of sacrifice and nausea induced by the act of making art — when does my influence become my work and how do I measure my success? Should I even think about my legacy? Lucas really did nearly die last year but why do we need to know? After all, what place now does the artist's biography have in a cultural landscape that has become so saturated by the mawkish consumption of mediated suffering? How do we negotiate a tide of sentimentality and nostalgia in order to find meaningful solace in times of need? For Lucas, his work and the activities of the exhibiting artists provide a point of departure, rather than yet another therapeutic folly for yet another life lived. The result is a provocation that filters remnants from the glutinous soup of personal experience into a playful assemblage of works that demand engagement as opposed to sympathy.