14 May – 25 June
This exhibition explores the degree of control exercised by different artists. For many the idea that an artist would give up any measure of artistic control is implausible, yet the artists in this exhibition do just that, some to a greater degree than others. Although they all share a desire to allow a natural or random process determine the final outcome of their work, controlled shows the very different ways of how that desire manifests itself.

Roger Ackling creates drawings directly onto pieces of wood salvaged from the coastline, by focusing the sun's rays through a small magnifying glass. Boyle Family use random techniques to select sites on the Earth’s surface which they fix and make permanent in three dimensional relief sculptures. Joy Gregory’s Handbag series, is created using the one of the first photographic techniques developed, kallitypes, the recorded image is controlled significantly by time and light and also subject to fade. Alexis Harding, winner of last years John Moore’s Painting prize, exploits the acute incompatibility between oil and gloss paint by employing a wet on wet process allowing the materiality of the painting to take on its own from. Emma Kay’s, The World from Memory is her own reconstruction of the world atlas image drawn by half remembered fragments of memory. Nicholas May’s abstract paintings question the very nature of painting itself. The disparity between the controlled and uncontrolled material elements is considerable. Eleanor Wood creates evocative images using a process of gradually building up layers of paper and then removing much of the added material.

With thanks to:
Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, South Bank Centre, London
Andrew Mummery Gallery, London
Annely Juda Gallery, London
Riflemaker Gallery, London