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News
Aesthetica magazine has selected New Symphony as one of it's 10 to See; recommended exhibitions this season.
Paul Carey-Kent has selected New Symphony to be included in his top 10 recommended exhibitions.
New Symphony opened with a bang on 3 June with over 280 guests.
The show has received an excellent response and opened with several pieces already sold to major collections. Amongst the guests were the artists; Tim Ellis, Sam Plagerson, Katie Cuddon and Douglas White. We were also delighted to see friends from the Whitechapel Gallery, Contemporary Art Society, Art Basel and the Saatchi Gallery.
We are delighted to annouce that Tim Ellis' work is currently on display in Newspeak: British Art Now at the Saatchi Gallery. Ellis has produced new work to be exhibited in New Symphony at Simon Oldfield Gallery, which opens on 3 June 2010
We are delighted to announce that the Contemporary Art Society has selected New Symphony for a curator-led tour of the exhibition on 23 June 2010. Lois Stonock will conduct a private tour of the exhibition; a sculpture show that brings together a group of young, ambitious artists who explore notions of appropriation and shifting perceptions of beauty.
Tim Ellis, Douglas White, Sam Plagerson, and Katie Cuddon will be exhibiting new works.
The Groucho Club has acquired Drake, a new painting on copper by Ben Ashton. This painting is the final piece in a series of work completed in 2009/2010. We are very excited and looking forward to seeing it hung in the club.
2010 has seen us working with the Contemporary Art Society during it’s centenary year. We are currently providing studio/living accommodation to Yane Calovski who is developing an exhibition for Tate Britain which opens in May 2010. Taking the gifts from the Contemporary Art Society to Tate as a starting point, Yane will interpret and consider the idea of ‘the collection’ through his own practice.
Susan Gladwin’s talk on Ben Ashton’s exhibition - 05/11/2009
Introduction
Simon Oldfield Gallery supports emerging artists by providing studio facilities and exciting opportunities for exhibiting artworks. Simon Oldfield is the founder of The Bloomsbury Studio, which opened in 2008, offering subsidized live/work spaces for young artists. Simon Oldfield Gallery also supports The Whitechapel Gallery through the patron programme.
This innovative exhibition space, which was formerly a stonemason’s showroom, opened in October 2009 with a solo show by British artist Ben Ashton. Ashton graduated with a Masters from Slade School of Fine Art in 2008 and is currently artist-in-residence at The Bloomsbury Studio.
Exhibition
Ben Ashton’s artistic practice is concerned with the themes of voyeurism and performance. For this exhibition he examines notions of celebrity, looking to the historical context of portraiture as his inspiration. As a painter, Ashton displays a high level of technical ability and this seductive quality is underpinned with a self-reflexive consideration of representation. The artist places himself at the centre of the work, subverting the conventional dichotomy of the artist and model and investigating the affect of pose and the politics of viewing. By portraying himself as a recurring subject in each image, he exposes the artifice of representation by exploring a variety of compositional techniques. Ashton’s work playfully invites us to consider the narcissism of celebrity and the notion of authorship, both throughout artistic practice and wider culture.
A fascinating aspect of Ashton’s work is his experimental approach towards installation, using mirrors and constructions to question the interpretation of imagery and the subjectivity of vision. Ashton addresses the theatrical tendencies of portraiture through his performative modes of display, a method that is highly successful in this gallery space. The artist has created kaleidoscopic tunnels and viewing platforms, including a site-specific window display that draws our attention to the external space of the gallery and its former purpose as a stonemason’s showroom. His use of stereoscopic photographs creates the illusion of three dimensions by presenting a different image to each eye, momentarily suspending our perception of reality. In a critical response to the traditional salon style exhibition, Ashton’s solo show presents an innovative and contemporary perspective on the genre of portraiture.
Alex Nikiporenko and Jordan Hunt played at the opening of Ben Ashton’s exhibition on 13 October 2009. Alex and Jordan are two of Britain’s most talented young composers/performers. Alex was the winner of the BBC Proms/Guardian’s Young Composer of the Year award (2008) and Jordan’s work has been performed throughout the UK at major venues and festivals including the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, King's Place, Aldeburgh Festival, Bridgewater Hall, and on BBC Radio 3 and 4; by such renowned performers as the BBC Singers, the BBC Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta.
Simon Oldfield interviewed by Elizabeth Day from The Osberver about Pop Life: Art in a Material World at the Tate Modern
Ben Ashton’s show opened to critical acclaim on 13 October and is listed on FirstThursday's site:
