Press Release

National Open Art Competition

£40,000 TOTAL PRIZE MONEY

“I was looking for works that displayed a fresh approach combined with a perceived enduring quality”. Gavin Turk 2008.
This is the 13th National Open Art Competition - the brainchild of the Duke of Richmond, to help develop “Chichester City of the Arts”.
 Registration deadline July 24th Online submissions deadline July 31st Shortlisted artists present their work at Goodwood Racecourse deadline October 23rd.

The judges are chaired by Gavin Turk a founder member of the YBAs (Young British Artists). Gavin has spent his career questioning identity and authorship, often mimicking famous icons, such as Andy Warhol, Che Guevara, Marilyn Munroe..
“..making art and experiencing art is an attempt to catch a glimpse of yourself…a form of mirroring”.
Gavin has just finished orchestrating the House of Fairy Tales, a not-for-profit arts organisation, co-founded with Deborah Curtis; they took up residency outside Tate Modern, promoting national and local creative education, trying to demonstrate an inventive and imaginative approach to everyday life.

THE PANEL OF SELECTORS
Catherine Lampert, a former director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. Her published works include books on Rodin, Euan Uglow, and Lucian Freud. She is also a well respected curator and art critic.
James Stewart, of Zimmer Stewart Gallery, Arundel, West Sussex. The gallery has recently won Highly Commended in the local Observer Business award Innovation category, demonstrating their ability to think outside the box.
David Barrie insurance brokers, alter ego artist Piran Strange. Frequently showcasing in London and is a much collected artist.

THE EXHIBITIONS
Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre November 7th – 21st
Prize Winners and Highly Commended
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester November 24th – 30th
www.thenationalopenartcompetition.com
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Press Release

REVOLVER
Recent paintings by Gareth Kemp

PRIVATE VIEW: 3rd September 18.00 – 20.00
The Lost Souls and Stranger Service Station @ the Bluecoat
Old Barber Shop, School Lane, L1 3BX.
Open: Thursday 3rd Sept – Tues 15th September 2009
Opening times: 10.00 -18.00 Tues-Sat or by appointment

The exhibition consists of a series 4 solo exhibitions under the umbrella of the Revolver exhibition. It is Gareth Kemp’s turn next; opening to the public from 4th of September, with a preview on the 3rd September.

In Revolver, painter James Quin brings together four artists for whom painting remains a prime concern, for whom the notion that painting has had its day has not registered on their collective radar. Whilst all four artists concentrate on disparate painterly concerns and narratives, what they appear to have in common is a fascination with the materiality of paint and the modes of image making.

What seems to connect these four artists is an inherent sense of unease in their work. The clock is ticking and the outcome is uncertain. We are confronted by images of civil unrest, figures isolated in bleak landscapes, surfaces once solid dissolve and buckle, humans morph into animals and dead painters stare blankly from their canvasses. Put simply Revolver reflects the sense that something is not quite right with the world. (James Quin August 6 – Aug 19, Hamish MacDonald, August 20 – Sept 1, Gareth Kemp Sept 3 – Sept 15, Bernadette O’Toole Sept 17 – Sept 29.)

Gareth Kemp
Kemp has for a number of years been working on a series of paintings called Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow, totalling over forty pieces. These monochrome canvases are inspired by a set of old family photographs of the remote area of Wales where he grew up. Kemp spends many hours carefully planning the assemblage of elements in each piece, a process of mentally cutting and pasting within and between photographs. They, like other paintings by Kemp, show a formal approach to composition and a quirky balance to the over all image. The nostalgic attempt to reanimate old images results in repetition and occlusion, whilst the cinematic compositions create a sense of unease. Other paintings also have this sense of unease, hinting at some kind of impending doom. Recently Kemp has started working on a series of paintings entitled Moonland. Digital photographs of reflections on the roofs of cars in his street are used as a point of departure, to create barren painted landscapes with an otherworldly quality.

For further information please call the artist Gareth Kemp 0771 891 8030 mail@garethkemp.com or exhibition curator James Quin qjames@tiscali.co.uk
www.garethkemp.com

Notes to editors: Gareth Kemp born 1972. Studied Art History at Staffordshire University and Liverpool University. Recent exhibitions include; Next Up: Liverpool Art Now, Blucoat Gallery, Liverpool. 2009; The Liverpool Art prize, NCUC, Liverpool. 2008.