Toby Ziegler is presenting an exhibition of new sculptural work at The New Art Centre in Wiltshire. Ziegler (b. 1972), is concurrently showing with a display of Bridget Riley’s painting in the Orangery. Both artists share an interest in perception, which for Ziegler involves the ways in which we receive, transfer and lose information.
Ziegler’s sculpture has been described by Penelope Curtis as ‘very whole and very empty’. Hence the new sculptures for this exhibition are made from the thinnest possible aluminium sheets and approximate aspects of the human form – heads, bodies and limbs – and they look almost pneumatic, as if they have been inflated and might possibly float away. Their apparent physical lightness is enhanced by their shiny, multi-faceted surfaces which catch and reflect light from every angle, making them appear barely there. These are counteracted by crushed versions of the ‘inflated’ sculptures, crumpled by the artist so that their original form has all but gone and which brings them back down to earth. These pairs of sculptures will be shown inside and outside, divided by the glass façade of the gallery at Roche Court.
Ziegler has long been captivated by our relationship with objects and his sculpture has referred to a variety of different sources from Parthenon figures and the Pyramids to Rodin and Staffordshire porcelain dogs, which he locates in photographs, prints and book illustrations. His process then involves using computer software to transform the original flat image into a faceted three dimensional object made from a series of polygons. Ziegler reimagines three dimensions out of two and reconstructs something of the original form. In doing so he opens up the boundaries between sculptural and pictorial practice, exploring what is lost in translation in the shift from one to the other, and also what is gained.
Toby Ziegler will have a major exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield from 26 September 2014 which will include many of the sculptures shown at Roche Court. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai; The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; The Saatchi Gallery, London; Malmö Konsthall and Tate Britain. His work also features in important public and private collections around the world.
Bridget Riley has unveiled her new work in the Orangery at Roche Court. It is a large new painting in which she revisits her use of the stripe motif. In her most recent work, Riley has concentrated on these horizontal bands of alternating colours. The visual effect of their rhythm and dissolution is reminiscent of landscape painting, yet her investigation of perception is beyond representation or depiction. Instead, like Seurat and Cèzanne, she has developed an analytical approach to building form with colour.
In the 1960s, Riley evolved a style in which she explored the dynamic potentialities of optical phenomena, mainly using black, white and grey; her so-called ‘Op-art’ paintings produced a disorienting physical effect on the eye and attracted international acclaim. She began working with pure colour in 1967, adopting stripes to create a structure which allowed cadences of colour to pulse and bring the paintings to life. Carefully choosing sequences of paint, Riley explored the subtle effects of each colour upon the next and created a kind of visual instability. Aligned horizontally, her use of colour even seems to extend beyond the picture plane. Since 2009 the stripe paintings have featured a warmer and brighter palette, while their structure has been opened up creating the impression of fleeting sensations of light and colour.
Bridget Riley studied at Goldsmiths’ College from 1949 to 1952, and at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 1955. She has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions, including National Gallery, London; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; San Diego Museum of Art; Tate; Dia Center for the Arts, New York; Serpentine Gallery, London; Venice Biennale; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Kunstverein Hannover; documenta VI and documenta IV, Kassel. Her work is represented in major collections throughout the world including: the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; Musèe d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
Nice Day Out Alert!!!
Toby Ziegler 12 July – 7 September Bridget Riley 7 July – 12 September Roche Court, East Winterslow Salisbury Wiltshire SP5 1BG