In London now!

Tabitha Moses, Hairpurse, 2004; Wen Wu, Hairplay II, 2011

BRAIDED TOGETHER
Hair in the work of Contemporary Women Artists

From the press-release:
You are warmly invited to attend the Private View of Braided Together at BHVU Gallery on 17 February 2012, 6 – 9 pm

Organised by artist run gallery BHVU, the exhibition is the first of its kind to consider the intricate relationship between women and hair.
Braided Together unites ten international contemporary women artists who each share an interest in the symbolic expression of human hair either as material or subject in their work. Inspired by the work of women Surrealists, the exhibition investigates specifically female and art historical concerns such as fragility, loss and power. Featured works include painting, etching, sculpture, drawing, photography and video, resulting in a truly dynamic exhibition that seeks to reinterpret the symbolism of hair through a multitude of female voices.

Braided Together commenced its tour at New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and has now travelled back to its gallery of origin, BHVU. All of the art historical and theoretical ideas raised by the exhibition are considered in an accompanying catalogue – this includes images of all works shown, as well as work by artists Elina Brotherus and Hong Zhang and Kiki Smith, and three commissioned essays written by academics specializing in this field.

Exhibiting artists:
Marcelle Hanselaar, Marion Michell, Tabitha Moses, Karen Bergeon
Mary Dunkin, Wen Wu, Jenni Dutton, Trish Morrissey, Jessica Lagunas, Samantha Sweeting

BHVU Gallery, Unit A, 2 Leswin Place, 
London N16 7NJ
Open to public: 18 February – 18 March 2012
Opening times: 12 - 6pm Saturday + Sunday or by appointment
Admission: Free

Ich habe noch keine Vergangenheit

The other week I found a letter my favourite boy, the son of close friends in Germany, wrote to me a couple of years ago. He wrote in English, describing what he'd been up to, and explaining the financial crisis looming in the world with a little diagram (he's exceedingly clever). Floating at the bottom of the letter is the sentence "Ich habe noch keine Vergangenheit!" - I have no past yet. Just for a moment I took it to mean I have no past yet because I am a child, which seemed to make perfect sense in terms of having had no part in bringing about the financial crisis or global warming, etc etc, but of course he meant that he had not yet learned to speak/write in English past tense. Or did he? That moment of mis-understanding (which had not happened when I first read the letter) felt like a kind of epiphany, as it ties in with my second generation project, and now I can't get the sentence out of my head. Nor can I think much beyond it, being very tired, and in any case formulating my thoughts has never felt more difficult. The work is growing, while I grope about for insight. Maybe the work will teach me.

I am delighted to be part of

Tabitha Moses, Hairpurse, 2004; Wen Wu, Hairplay II, 2011

BRAIDED TOGETHER
Hair in the work of Contemporary Women Artists

From the press-release:
You are warmly invited to attend the Private View of Braided Together at New Hall Art Collection on:
Sunday 15th January 2012, from 4 - 6 pm.

Organised by artist run gallery BHVU, the exhibition is the first of its kind to consider the intricate relationship between women and hair.
Braided Together unites ten international contemporary women artists who each share an interest in the symbolic expression of human hair either as material or subject in their work. Inspired by the work of women Surrealists, the exhibition investigates specifically female and art historical concerns such as fragility, loss and power. Featured works include painting, etching, sculpture, drawing, photography and video, resulting in a truly dynamic exhibition that seeks to reinterpret the symbolism of hair through a multitude of female voices.

Braided Together commences its tour at New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and will then travel back to its gallery of origin, BHVU. All of the art historical and theoretical ideas raised by the exhibition will be considered in an accompanying catalogue – this will include images of all works shown, as well as work by artists Elina Brotherus and Hong Zhang and Kiki Smith, and three commissioned essays written by academics specializing in this field.

Exhibiting artists:
Marcelle Hanselaar, Marion Michell, Tabitha Moses, Karen Bergeon
Mary Dunkin, Wen Wu, Jenni Dutton, Trish Morrissey, Jessica Lagunas, Samantha Sweeting

Dates:
New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge CB3 0DF
Open to public: 15 January – 11 February 2012
Entrance through College's Main Entrance off Huntingdon Rd
Opening times: 10am - 6pm everyday
Admission: Free

BHVU Gallery, Stoke Newington, London
Open to public: 18 February – 18 March 2012
Opening times: 12 - 6pm Saturday + Sunday or by appointment
Admission: Free

From all of us to all of you!

Nicholas Serota: So what is the purpose of art?
Gerhard Richter: For surviving this world. One of many, many (purposes)… like bread, like love.

Art and bread and love for all of us!
Happy holidays!

Finally, long overdue...

I am pleased to announce that I've got a fully up-to-date website! The old one, originally put up by a friendly acquaintance, was six years out of date, due to lack of funds, web-design knowledge and energy. Aly Helyer, an artist I met during our show at Core Gallery told me about a very simple and affordable package where you can customise templates and don't have to write code or anything. I finally took courage and tried MrSite out and here it is: www.marionmichell.com. Simple, clean, to the point. That's all I need. A small step for humankind, a big step for yours truly.

One of four

I can’t quite believe that the year is drawing to its end already. Time for a review maybe? On the good side: I’ve taken part in quite a few exhibitions, in the UK and abroad. Or I should say, my work has. The most important show was Extra-Ordinary at Core Gallery, partly because it was beautifully curated, partly because we (three artists) were involved in the processes that bring an exhibition fully into the world, i.e. press-releases, interviews, presentations, and I learned a lot. It also laid the foundation for a rewarding relationship with Core Gallery, and esp. Rosalind Davis, founder/ curator/artist/writer/all-around-the-arts energy bundle… As part of their DIY-Educate programme I had the opportunity to attend an artist’s talk, a talk by curators, a tutorial, and even presented a piece of work to other artists one sunny afternoon, when the sofa was made to move with me, so I could lie down when I needed to. Again, I learned a lot, had fun doing so and started feeling a bit more connected with other artists.
On the not so good side: my M.E. seemed to be on the brink of getting better and then got a bit worse – fodder for frustration and listless laments, as you can imagine. But something good is happening here too: there might be a new or additional diagnosis, and although I can’t know what that will bring, new avenues are being explored and that must be a good thing.
So looking back I feel like a Jackie in the box who was occasionally catapulted into the world for brief but dramatic instances and then, again and again, fell dimly and limply back with the lid closing firmly over her for a rather long time. That box has a little light though, and in its shine I continue to imagine and crochet new pieces. A stitch here, a stitch there...
How was your year?

Wintering

Material: crocheted from a wool/polyester mixture
Dimensions: 50.5 cmx 38 cm

Something a little bit different (2)

It's complete! I wasn't sure to start with whether I wanted to have the piece introduced in my last post on its own, esp. as the second piece proved rather more difficult, but now that it's found its form I see they are good together. (You can't quite discern from the photograph that there's no opening for a head to push through, that I've made little pockets where the armpits would be and that the straps have been crocheted as tubes.)
It's more clear to me now too how much this piece is about puberty, that time-span when our bodies seem to hurtle from one change to another and we can't quite keep up, when we are torn between wanting to throw ourselves into life and its contingencies and hiding in our bedrooms, between boldness and brassiness and excruciating embarrassment, between thinking we know it all and being utterly flummoxed by being in the world.
A friend of mine who popped in this week burst out laughing when she saw the piece. She remembered menstrual pads the size of aircraft runways and so do I (yes, we're of that age!), pads which weighed heavily in our pants and felt as inconspicuous as if a dayglow arrow was hovering in front of us and pointing at our shame. Yes, shame is the instrumental word. The only good thing was to be exempt from PE once per month and allowed to sit on a bench at the side instead of being bullied by the teacher. I'm sad for us in retrospect but also wonder how much things have changed. Smaller pads, tampons, yes, but menstruation still has to be invisible. And scentless. The funny thing is it's something I hadn't thought of at all when I made the piece: my starting point was a more general feeling of awkwardness - the strangeness of being embodied (at all times, but especially during puberty), but I'm delighted that M. was thrown into recall and took me along with her.
I also think there's more to be seen in the piece, but leave that up to you!

Growing pains

Dimensions: 25 cm x 50 cm and 24.5 cm x 44 cm
Materials: crocheted from a virgin wool/polyester mixture