REBECCA APPLEBY
infrastructure 5 - 30 June 2021
REBECCA APPLEBY
infrastructure 5 - 30 June 2021
&Gallery 3 Dundas Street Edinburgh EH3 6QG andgallery.co.uk info@andgallery.co.uk 0131 467 0618
Deep in the Woods (detail) Ceramic sculpture, H75 x L58 x W55cm
Infrastructure - The second solo exhibition dedicated to Rebecca Appleby at the Gallery. Through a series of techniques developed over a 20-year career, Rebecca’s practice is an exploration of both balance and structure, within the built and natural environment. This new exhibition gathers a selection of sculptures and paintings including works from the “Grace” series that the artist started developing in September 2019. Of great personal significance this new body of work is an exploration of the symbolic relationship between the architectural and bodily decay. Through the exploration of the complex relationship between art and science Rebecca realised how clear the impact one has on the other and felt an urge to investigate the terrifying, emotional, mysterious and yet scientific experience she has been through. Simultaneously Rebecca created new works exploring fundamental structure in nature, the body and industry/architecture. Her research questions how different systems and infrastructures relate and how this is realised in the form and materiality of a ceramic sculpture. Particularly interested in what happens when infrastructure is altered, broken, destroyed or re-imagined, Rebecca’s sculptures are constructed using slabs of clay draped over internal steel structures, pierced and stitched together. Breaking many rules of ceramic construction, she intentionally uses steel substrates to encourage the clay to crack and experience trauma. The sculptures are altered and re-imagined through the process of firing. The change that they undergo echoes a phenomenon known in architecture as ‘concrete cancer’, when a steel reinforcement starts to rust and expand, displacing the surrounding concrete, whilst the disfiguration, broken edges & patina are suggestive of the human body experiencing injury, ageing and decay. “Visually, I think these abstract sculptural fragments have a conceptual & aesthetic beauty. I think disfiguration and patina of age or trauma tells a beautiful story. Cracks, marks, scars, dints & broken edges enhancing beauty. Rather than considering a broken object ‘destroyed’ I believe it to be a transformation sometimes to the point of abstraction. It is fascinating, intriguing to wonder about its journey and to enjoy the aesthetic transfiguration. In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is a world view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”. Born in Leeds, Rebecca is a highly respected artist, whose sculptural and painterly eye, allows her the diversity to go beyond the boundaries of her traditional background in ceramics, giving her the freedom to create vibrant and challenging work. Rebecca trained at Edinburgh College of Art 1999-2001 (BA Ceramics) and currently lives and works in Yorkshire.
Core Ceramic sculpture, H37 x L65 x W43cm
Organisation Mix media collage on board, 100 x 70cm
System Mix media collage on board, 100 x 70cm
Bloodless Ceramic sculpture, H14 x L60 x W40cm
Foetal Ceramic sculpture, H7cm x L39 x W23cm
Groan Ceramic sculpture, H50 x L66 x W55cm
Histology IX & III Mix media on Fabriano paper, 50x50cm
Histology VI & I Mix media on Fabriano paper, 50x50cm
Infrastructure Ceramic sculpture, H47 x L100 x W47cm
Shiver Ceramic sculpture, H45 x L60 x W40cm
Trabeculae Ceramic sculpture, H22 x L63 x 36cm
Battleground, Aftermath I L122 x W122cm
Testing Testing I Radioactive Ceramic sculpture, H25 x L25 x W20cm
Net Ceramic sculpture, H 42 x 28 x 20cm (including stand)
Vancomycin, The Stripper Ceramic sculpture, H38 x L50 x W30cm
Architecture Mix media collage on grey board, 42x30cm
Arrangement Mix media collage on grey board, 42x30cm
Spoils I Ceramic sculpture, H20 x L14 x W12cm
Nucleus Ceramic sculpture, H32 x L53 x W34cm
Root Drawing XVII Indian ink on Fabriano paper, 20x50cm
Lost in the woods Ceramic sculpture, H38 x L50 x W50cm
Scaffold Ceramic sculpture, H22 x L34 x W12cm
REBECCA APPLEBY E D U C AT I O N 1998-1999 1999-2001
Batley School of Art, Pre BA Foundation Edinburgh College of Art, BA
TEACHING 2001- 2011
Kirklees College
EXHIBITIONS 2021 Infrastructure, Solo Show, &Gallery, Edinburgh Retrospective, Redcar Palace, North Yorkshire Tiny yet Mighty, &Gallery, Edinburgh 2020 Winter Exhibition, &Gallery, Edinburgh 2019 Cynthia Corbett, Young Masters Exhibition, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London Summer Of Ceramics, Doddington Hall, Lincoln Inner Order, Solo Exhibition, Contemporary Ceramics, London Winter Exhibition, &Gallery, Edinburgh Public Art Commission, Commissioned by Leeds City Council When All is Quiet, York Art Gallery, curated by The Kaiser Chief’s London Art Fair, represented by &Gallery, Edinburgh 2018 A Fractured Harmony, Solo Exhibition, &Gallery, Edinburgh Group Exhibition ‘Unrestricted’ &Gallery Edinburgh Relic, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool A Slice of Yorkshire, Bils and Rye, Yorkshire Artist Focus, Bevere Gallery, Worcester Morphology, Lotte Edinburgh Art Fair, represented by &Gallery 2017 Himalayan Gardens Exhibition, Yorkshire, Curated by Pangolin Gallery Sculptural Ceramics & Stone, Pangolin, London Urban & Wild, Studio Eleven Gallery, Fruit Market Hull Inception, & Gallery, Edinburgh Pots & People, Lotherton Hall, Yorkshire Ceramic Art London 2016 CoCA (Centre of Ceramic Art) Blackmore Gallery Solo Show, Linda Bird, London
2016 Innovations In Ceramic Art, Cambridge Oxford Ceramic Fair, Oxford New Craftsman, St Ives Craft & Design Gallery, Leeds Ceramic Art York Lair, Edinburgh Ceramic Art London 2015 Ceramic Art York The Art Market, York Bils and Rye, Yorkshire Material Mattters, Artist in residency & Exhibition Project Space, East Street Arts, Leeds 2014/13 Christmas Show, Craft & Design Gallery, Leeds Group Show, Summer Hall, Edinburgh Earth & Fire International Ceramics Festival, Rufford, Nottinghamshire 2011 Red, Black, Other , Mostyn, Llandudno Urban Traces Exhibition , Oldham Ceramics North, Redbrick Mill, Batley 2009 Origin Exhibition, London Ceramic Art London AWARDS Selected Professional Member of CPA Selected Professional Member Royal Society of British Sculptors Shortlisted for Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize Best Newcomer Award, Ceramic Art London Profile Feature in Ceramic Review March/April 2017 Issue 284 Jan & David Roberts Sponsorship Prize Shortlisted for Henry Rothschild Bursary COLLECTIONS Crafts Council Collection Lotherton Hall, Yorkshire CoCA (Centre of Ceramic Arts), York
&Gallery, 3 Dundas Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QG andgallery.co.uk :: info@andgallery.co.uk :: 0131 467 0618