Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open 2022

Venue

Jerwood Arts, London

When

Audience

Open to the Public

28 January – 9 April 2022

Jerwood Arts, London

Anna Berry | Cecilia Charlton | Jahday Ford | Vicky Higginson | Francisca Onumah and Helena Russell

Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open returns in 2022 for its eighth edition, showcasing new work by Anna Berry, Cecilia Charlton, Jahday Ford, Vicky Higginson and Francisca Onumah and Helena Russell. These outstanding early-career artists and makers are displaying their commissions at Jerwood Space, London until 9 April 2022.

Showcasing a broad range of material disciplines, including glass, textiles, digital modelling, silversmithing and sculptural installation, the five commissions provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting new work being produced by UK-based artists and makers. Although working across a variety of mediums and processes, the makers explore some common themes across their works such as the relationship between digital technology and traditional techniques, the potential of repetition in making, the power of tools, and the rich history of their material practices.

The exhibition allows research, concepts and experimentation to shine alongside the extraordinary craftmanship of the objects created by the selected artists and makers. Giving the awardees an extended production period for this edition has proven key in developing their ideas on an even more significant level, marking the start of projects and explorations, which will expand past these commissions.

Anna Berry will present A Fall from Grace, a new sculptural work using her signature geometric visual vocabulary and repetitive processes using cones as a way of creating a three-dimensional structure. Focussing on porcelain and concrete as her core materials, both of which are new to Berry’s practice, the piece will look at ideas of balance, power and precarity – how two materials at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their fragility can exist within the same structure. Conceptually, the work proposes that ideas that can be a force for good can also become tyrannical when balance is lost. annaberry.co.uk
Cecilia Charlton will display her largest work to date: a human-size abstract triptych of Bargello embroideries, inspired by the Greek myth of the Three Fates who spin, allot and cut the Thread of Life. Each panel presents the characteristics of one of the Fates, with a unique combination of colour palette and stitch patterns. The embroidery will be stretched over a gilded surface, allowing for the negative spaces in the work to glisten through. Charlton uses the Three Fates to reflect on the different stages of human life and the paths one has to walk through it, forcing us to examine our place on the planet and our relationships to one another. ceciliacharlton.com
Jahday Ford will display Axle, a family of large glass vessels, which combine ancient techniques with contemporary innovations to challenge what is possible with the material today. Interested in exploring the relationships between the digital and the hand-made form, the works will extend Ford’s current glass investigations into processes such as 3D Modelling and using CNC mould production alongside traditionally hand-blown elements. His installation comprises of three distinct groups of coloured glass works, with one interactive piece using LED sensors to illuminate when visitors are within a close proximity of it in the gallery space. jahdayfordglass.co.uk
Vicky Higginson’s commission for the exhibition will be a set of varied healing devices imagined to treat emotional ailments. Made through combining hand-blown and cold-worked glass elements in a variety of bold colours, the pieces will be presented on custom made metal stands and plinths. Inspired by research into the shape and function of historic medical instruments the devices will include: ear trumpets, to hear things left unsaid; a pestle and mortar, to break down overwhelming thoughts; an anaesthesia inhaler to numb grief; and a reflex hammer. Continuing her exploration into ‘Folk Futurism’ the objects on display will look at the meeting point of folklore and fairy tales with science fiction. New techniques developed for this commission will showcase the use of feathers, mirroring, and symbolic mark-making. vickyhigginson.com
Working in collaboration and using a hoard of old silversmithing tools as a starting point, Francisca Onumah and Helena Russell’s installation comprises of three elements coming together in the gallery space. Central to the work will be a collection of five collaboratively made vessels in copper and silver, displayed on one large plinth. Alongside this, the pair will display a series of found tools they have refurbished and repurposed to make the vessels, and aspects of their research into the past, present and future of the silversmithing industry in Sheffield, where they are both based. Through this commission Onumah and Russell have documented the personal histories of three Sheffield-based silversmiths, who have been involved in the industry in different capacities throughout most of their careers. The project aims to challenge ideas of ‘preciousness’ and whether it sits with the final product or the making process itself. franciscaonumah.co.uk helenarussell.co.uk

The exhibition at Jerwood Space is co-curated by Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts at Jerwood Arts and Svetlana Panova, Curator and Project Coordinator who is based at Aberdeen Art Gallery in a role co-funded by Jerwood Arts and Art Fund to support curatorial development in the field of visual arts, crafts and applied art in museums and galleries.

Following the exhibition at Jerwood Space, the works will go on a national tour throughout 2022-2023, travelling from Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange in Cornwall (4 June – 22 October 2022) to Aberdeen Art Gallery in the North East of Scotland (19 November 2022 – 4 March 2023). Throughout the tour Art Fund are supporting each venue with funding to programme curatorial development activities, further deepening critical debate, visibility and dialogue around contemporary craft and applied arts across the UK.

Recognising and promoting the significance of making practice and process within contemporary visual arts, Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open gives exceptional artists and makers the opportunity to develop their creative ideas independently, enabling them to experiment, learn and take risks at a pivotal moment in their careers. The awardees are able to explore their ideas outside of commercial pressures, with dedicated developmental, curatorial and production support from Jerwood Arts.

The artists were selected from over 500 applications by an independent panel comprising: Yinka Ilori, artist and designer; Junko Mori, artist maker in metal; Dame Magdalene Odundo, potter; Christine Rew, formerly Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Manager; and Harriet Cooper, Head of Visual Arts at Jerwood Arts. In recognition of the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, for this edition the awardees receive an increased award of £10,000 each plus curatorial and production support from the Jerwood Arts team to enable the making of new work over an extended twelve-month period.

Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open 2021 is a collaboration between Jerwood Arts and Art Fund in partnership with Aberdeen Art Gallery. The prestigious biennial artist development, commissioning and national touring award champions artists and makers across the UK at a pivotal point in their practice, encouraging critical debate, visibility and dialogue around contemporary craft and applied arts within UK public collections. It is committed to strengthening the profile and importance of making, craft and applied arts presented within a visual arts context.

Previous recipients of the award have included: ceramic artist Adam Buick whose work has been acquired by prestigious collections including the British Museum, Crafts Council and Chatsworth House; artist Jasleen Kaur whose recent commissions include Wellcome Collection, England’s Creative Coast, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, and Glasgow Women’s Library; artist and sculptor Zachary Eastwood-Bloom who was 2019 Digital Artist in Residence with Scottish Ballet, Glasgow; ceramic artist Tana West who won the Feldspar award at the Whitegold International Ceramic Prize 2019; and collaborative artists Forest + Found who have exhibited at New Art Centre, Roche Court, and Make | Hauser & Wirth Somerset alongside receiving scholarships in painting and woodturning from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust.

Events

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of events at Jerwood Space developed in dialogue with the artists and a new publication detailing their commissions.

JERWOOD LATES, Friday 28 January 6-8pm (6.30pm tour)

Exhibition Tour with Svetlana Panova, Co-curator of Jerwood Art Fund Makers Open

BALANCE, Thursday 24 February, 7-8pm

Anna Berry in conversation with Inaya Folarin Iman, journalist, presenter, social campaigner, Founder and Director of the Equiano Project

EXCHANGE, Saturday 19 February, 3-4pm

Francisca Onumah & Helena Russell in conversation with Emma Paragreen, Industry and Metalwork Curator, Sheffield Museums

JERWOOD LATES, Friday 25 February, 6-8pm (6.30pm tour)

Exhibition Tour with Mirren Kessling, Visual Arts Programme Manager

DIGITAL, Friday 18 March, 7-8pm

Jahday Ford in conversation with Seetal Solanki, author and Founder of Ma-tt-er

COSMOS, Saturday 12 March, 2pm-6pm

Embroidery workshop and readings led by Cecilia Charlton