BEXHILL ON SEA.- In the Realm of Others is a new collaboration between Project Art Works and
De La Warr Pavilion intended to question perceptions about the process of making art. Over forty-five large and small-scale paintings, drawings and sculptures – produced by fourteen makers with profound intellectual impairment – are presented in a living, evolving installation that offers a rare glimpse into unknowable, creative states of being.
In the Realm of Others is a choreographed navigation through the hidden worlds of Paul Colley, Stanley Ellis, Albert Geere, Neville Jermyn, David Marriott, Louise Newham, Sharif Persaud, Michelle Roberts, Jonathan Rogers, Carl Sexton, Brian Simpkin, George Smith, Sam Smith and Darryl Spencer, revealed through a changing exhibition of recent works selected from the 4,000 held in Project Art Works’ collection. Periodically the makers are present, producing work in the gallery within a specially created studio environment together with the artist practitioners who support them.
Albert Geere is a quiet maker of paintings and drawings, ranging from vibrant abstracts characterised by symmetrical or geometric shapes to works with the recurring motifs of imagined sanctuaries, or the care homes he has inhabited for nearly eighty years. A selection of his work for In the Realm of Others is presented in a dedicated space within the installation. Geere has exhibited work at Towner Gallery and was included in the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012-13 national tour. Other makers include Sam Smith who creates large-scale paintings by pouring and squeezing paint directly onto the canvas; Paul Colley who makes quick decisive marks in response to interactions with artists and live film projections; Louise Newham whose practice uses screen-printing, clay modeling, photography, drawing and painting to develop large-scale projects; and Michelle Roberts, an awardwinning artist, whose intricately detailed, complex and colourful paintings led to a solo exhibition at Pallant House Gallery.
Modus Operandi, a new film and sound work celebrating fifteen years of the makers’ artistic practice, process and collaboration at Project Art Works, provides an orientation point for In the Realm of Others.
Kate Adams MBE, director of Project Art Works, said, “By presenting these works in a gallery space we are not locating them within the artistic canon or attributing value through traditional historical, critical or aesthetic means. Each work was selected for its visceral dynamism, or because it has a unique ‘trace’ of the maker’s presence, or is just a pure engagement with colour and the material qualities of paint or surface.”
In the Realm of Others provokes further consideration when Cy Twombly’s monumental suite of four paintings, Quattro Stagioni, arrives in De La Warr Pavilion’s first floor gallery on 24 October, providing an alternative reference for exploring the spectrum of artistic production.
Established over fifteen years ago, Project Art Works is a pioneering organisation using contemporary visual art to facilitate the making of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography, artistic happenings and actions in the studio and at site-specific locations by adults and children with severe intellectual impairment.
