Piero Gilardi

Born in Torino, Italy in 1942, and currently living in Nottingham, Piero Gilardi influenced the development of Arte Povera (poor art) in Italy in the late 1960s. He was the most politically engaged artist of this art movement, always creating social relations through art, and from 1963 to 1985 he collaborated his work and ever since his work has always consisted of interactive sculptures and his creative work is influenced by social and political movements. Recent sculptures and work Gilardi has produced, explore anti-austerity and environmental campaigns in Italy, revealing him as an important precursor of participatory and socially-engaged art practices today.
His exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary features his interactive sculptures based on natural motifs, including his celebrated Nature Carpets. Gilardi’s Nature Carpets are highly colourful, realistic sculptures of slices of nature made from carved and painted foam. Gilardi encouraged people to use them, to pick them up and to lie on them, which goes against the norm of the strict 'Do Not Touch' rule in every gallery I have been to. He does this because he wants his work to offer new ways of thinking about an individuals interaction with his or her environment. He created the 'nature carpets' in 1965 thinking of them as examples of the interior décor of the outside, and foam to Gilardi felt welcoming and interacted with the body for its light playful function. Even though other early sculptures were designed to be worn as clothing but they are now too delicate to be physically engaged with but visitors are invited to interact with a few similar recent works in the exhibition. Being able to handle his work almost felt wrong. I still felt a pang of guilt, and at first I was double checking to see if it was really okay to touch Gilardi's work. This interaction combined with the theatrical stage-like appearance of his work, enhances the idea of being involved. Being part of the performance, as in the late 60's, at a time of great political turmoil in Italy, he left the art world altogether, becoming a “creative facilitator” of street theatre and demonstrations for a range of radical causes – workers’ revolution, the anti psychiatry movement, radical youth groups, and the rights of indigenous people around the world. This work took the form of making sculptural props and choreographing actions, which you can see in his current work he produces today out of his favourite cheap material; foam, carved and painted. The interactive material combined with realistic replicas of natural objects, I believe Gilardi truly exorcizes the death of nature.

John Newling

John Newling studied at North Staffs Polytechnic doing Fine Art and Sculpture. Then he went to Chelsea to do an MA. He was given a fellowship at Wolverhampton in the 70's for 3 years. Newling has always been very lucky, discovered in London by well known art critics. This recongnition gave him the opportunity to live in America for 9 months where he produced work on the streets. Currently based and living in Nottingham, Newling is an international acclaimed installation artist and pioneer of public art, exploring the natural world and heavily inspired by the social and economic systems of society – such as money or religion. So the way in which Newling works and what ideas and materials he works with, he aims to combine radical new thinking with practical action to deliver positive social change.

The first section of the exhibition plays with these two ideas, exhibiting replicas of high street cash machines made in copper, large glass bowls stained with the dirt and debris cleaned from the surface of 50,000 two pence coins and glass cabinets that confine items inside which relate to the act of taking communion in the Christian church.

His second section features new artworks inspired by the natural world and its ecological systems. He grew and harvested over 80 cabbages, and used these to create sculptural artworks through horticultural processes. These can be seen to change physically over the course of the exhibition, as they dry and harden, which is one of the reasons Newling became interested in their use value, they don't stay the same forever because it is a living breathing object. This is perhapse what he is trying to suggest in this piece to the right; the cabbages metaphorically represent a pair of lungs, and are presented on a lightbox on the wall, suggesting an x-ray. His message is probably trying to show the environmental issues of today; we are destroying plant life, and plant life is what breathes oxygen into the world. See, the leaves overlap and have dried out by the time I had visited this exhibition in Nottingham Contemporary, suggesting the death of oxygen as we continue to destroy trees and the environment, whether it be an increase in CO2 emissions or urban development. There is less oxygen. The lungs are shriveling up as a result. The work of Newling is inspired by and clearly deals with current issues of today such as social, environmental and economic systems of todays society, expressing through very simple sculptures and framed pieces. I think the simplicity is what strikes the audience, but for me, I personally like the idea and the message Newling is trying to show. It does make you think really hard at first to understand what this message is. Then I suppose sometime art isn't supposed to be understood or got, it is supposed to touch you, to move you. But I am not moved by the work of newling. I find his work to be too much of a scientific experement than a finished piece of work. Though the lungs on the light box have reason to be there, they have significant purpose. It does make you think and the message touches me. For the rest of his work, it failes to interest me and I just didn't take anything away from his work, but the pair of lungs.

agnes-cecile

Like pages of a diary, Agnes-cecile's portraits are a collection of memories, only she refuses to express the very thought of these moments, rather defining the emotions and not the story. Aesthetic simplicity breathes, flutters and rushes across the page, painting intensified expressions that bleed into each other and fall like rain drops. Washy abstract aspects in her paintings are mixed with a strong realism, which even those who are not interested in the abstract are suddenly attracted to Agnes-cesile's work, because the recognisable figure in each painting acts as an anchor. The abstract in her work is an extension of the subject. However, the hidden meaning of each painting is expressed through her recognisable technique, represented through colour and the body language of the figure, but her message is just her inner thought, a memorandum just for her. But the heavy use of colour and the technique combined almost confines her personal experienses and feelings that inspried each painting, that the meaning is versitile, interpretated differently to who looks at her work. Provoking a contrast in emotional response to each individual. That is exactly what the Italian painter strives to achieve, she wants the paintings to speak to people, to mean something to them rather than what it means to her. She says "If I wanted to talk about important messages to the people, I'd write, not paint." As a self taught artist, based in Italy Agnes-Cecile uses watercolour and varnish in her pieces, using the materials to create striking images that steal your attention, creating mixed responses with the expressions of the subject, the realism contrasted with abstract elements, her work is appreciated by a wide audience. People who can relate and understand, or thoes who are intreuged by how raw the the pain is in the figures eyes aor how the shame is painted so harsh. There is no reason why Agnes-ceciles emotionally infused paintings shouldn't connect with everyone.