February First Thursday

Thanks to everyone who came along to the gallery for February's First Thursday event. Whether you attended the 'Artists In Conversation' or just popped in to the see the exhibition, I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did!

Matt Roberts, Liam Cole and Rex address the audience

Removed from the Eyes of Strangers, exhibition documentation

If you haven't been able to make the exhibition at MRA Project Space yet, don't worry, you have until 6 February! In the meantime, check out these images of the installed exhibition.

Removed from the Eyes of Strangers, installation view, 2010, MRA Project Space.

 

Wendy Mayer, 'Paper Chain Dolls' (2009). Courtesy of the artist.

 

Rachel Goodyear, 'Mushrooms in a plant pot' (2008). Courtesy of the artist and The International 3.

 

Pete Smith, 'Bedsitter part X' (2009), installation view, 2010, MRA Project Space. 

Courtesy of the artist and Matt Roberts Arts.

 

Pete Smith, 'Bedsitter part XI' (2009), installation view, 2010, MRA Project Space. 

Courtesy of the artist and Matt Roberts Arts.

 

Rachel Goodyear, installation view, 2010, MRA Project Space. Courtesy of the artist and Matt Roberts Arts.

 

Matt Lippiatt, 'Six Urban Legends' (2009), installation view, 2010, MRA Project Space. 

Courtesy of the artist and Matt Roberts Arts.

 

Wendy Mayer, 'Self-portrait as a Matryoshka part II' (2007). Courtesy of the artist.

Private View - MRA Project Space

The opening event for Removed from the Eyes of Strangers took place on Thursday 7 January. It was a particularly freezing night, so thank you if you made it out!

If you haven't seen the exhibition yet, do pop in between 12-6pm on any Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 6 February 2010. Alternatively, come by for one of our Removed from the Eyes of Strangers events, either the Curator's Talk on Saturday 16 January or the panel discussion on Thursday 4 February.

Matt Lippiatt relaxes after a hard week's work!

London installation

The team at Matt Roberts Arts spent the first week in January installing the Removed from the Eyes of Strangers exhibition at MRA Project Space on Vyner Street, preparing for the private view last Thursday. Despite the heavy snow, everything went very well and the exhibition looks great!

Below are some images of us preparing the gallery space. We'd like to say a big thank you to all the Arts Trainees, volunteer invigilators and London Met students who helped out over the course of the week.

Jim and Mark, ex-Arts Trainees, contemplating building a wall for Pete Smith's installation.

Pete Smith (artist) with Giulia and Cinthya (Arts Trainees) taking a break.

Matt Roberts.

 

Giulia unwrapping Rachel Goodyear's drawings.

The wall gets underway!

Wendy Mayer arrives with Paper Chain Dolls, a new addition to the exhibition.

Pete Smith building a new installation for the exhibition, using the existing components from the Bedsitter series and found objects.

Matt Roberts, Matt Lippiatt and Wendy Mayer in Conversation

Thursday 4 February 2010, 6-7.30pm
MRA Project Space, Unit 1, 25a Vyner Street, London, E2 9DG

 

Join Matt Roberts (curator) and artists from the Removed from the Eyes of Strangers exhibition as they discuss the notion of Freud’s ‘uncanny’ in contemporary art – with reference to their own practice – and share their experiences of developing this international touring exhibition in three venues across Europe.

Free entry, no booking required.

Please email exhibitions@mattroberts.org.uk for more information.

Curator's Talk

Saturday 16 January 2010, 3pm
MRA Project Space, Unit 1, 25a Vyner Street, London, E2 9DG

Matt Roberts leads a tour around the Removed from the Eyes of Strangers exhibition, discussing the selected artists and format of the show. Using scale models of the venues included in the exhibition’s international tour, Matt Roberts will explain the development of the exhibition and his investigation into the theme of the ‘uncanny’ in contemporary art.

Free entry.
 
Booking essential, please email exhibitions@mattroberts.org.uk for bookings or more information.

Removed from the Eyes of Strangers at MRA Project Space, London

7 January – 6 February 2010
Friday to Sunday 12pm – 6pm (plus the first Thursday of each month 6pm – 9pm)
MRA Project Space, Unit 1, 25a Vyner Street, London, E2 9DG

Removed from the Eyes of Strangers brings the work of four emerging British artists -Rachel Goodyear, Matt Lippiatt, Wendy Mayer, Pete Smith- to MRA Project Space. This is the final leg of the international exhibition, following a tour of Galleri Andersson/Sandström in Umeå, northern Sweden, and Co-Lab. in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Removed from the Eyes of Strangers is the culmination of a four-year research project. We asked these artists to develop new work that draws inspiration from the writings of Sigmund Freud, especially in relation to his seminal essay ‘The Uncanny’. Although there have been many exhibitions focusing on this theme, Removed from the Eyes of Strangers is unique in that it has supported new commissions that do more than simply reference Freud’s theory.

The final exhibiting artists attempt to engineer a visceral, physical uncanny occurrence that causes the viewer to momentarily question their preconceptions of the material world. Each artist subtly alters domestic objects, revealing how we can still be terrorised by the slightest shift in our perceptions.

If you would like further information about the exhibition and our programme of events please visit www.mattroberts.org.uk 

Co-Lab.

The second leg of the touring exhibition is now open at Co-Lab. in Copenhagen, Denmark. The exhibition will be running until 12th December 2009.

Co-Lab. is a non-profit space that opened in May 2007 and is directed by Marie Kirkengaard in collaboration with the two visual artists Melou Vangaard and Jon Stahn. With a wide international focus, the chief aim of Co-Lab. is to create a platform that promotes dialogue and artistic collaboration, developing new connections across cultures, medias and artistic practices.

'Removed from the Eyes of Strangers', installation view, 2009, Co-Lab., Copenhagen.

Screening documentation

Matt Lippiatt joined us to set up a screening of his video, Nightcruising, as a part of November's First Thursday event on Vyner Street. The screening was intended as a preview to the Removed from the Eyes of Strangers exhibition in the new year. We were really pleased with the turnout for the event. Below are some photographs of the event, including footage from the video itself.

Matt Lippiatt, Nightcruising, installation view, 2009, MRA Project Space. 

 See below for video documentation of the event:

First Thursday Screening - Nightcruising by Matt Lippiatt

Thursday 5th November 2009, 6-9pm
MRA Project Space, Unit 1, 25 Vyner Street, London, E2 9DG

As a preview of the Removed from the Eyes of Strangers exhibition due to open at MRA Project Space in January 2010, Matt Roberts Arts will be screening Nightcruising (2009), a video by Matt Lippiatt.

Continuing with the theme of Freud's 'Uncanny', Nightcruising (2009) is a collaboration between artist Matt Lippiatt and pornographer Liam Cole. Matt has re-edited video clips from a porn scene shot at night in London's Hampstead Heath, manipulating the sound and speed of the footage to foreground the ominous character of the nocturnal woodland setting and the ambiguous activities taking place.