Pernille Kapper Williams, Matter upon Matter, 2008, porcelain, H 4.1 inches Ø 6.7 inches, photo by François Doury, courtesy the artist and Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris.
Raven Row’s exhibition, “Unto This Last,” opens tomorrow in London. With works by Thomas Bayrle, Sarah Browne, Andrea Büttner, Alice Channer, Isabelle Cornaro, Dewar & Gicquel, Pernille Kapper Williams, and Běla Kolářova, the show looks at craft’s place in contemporary art. The title is taken from John Ruskin’s book of the same name that ultimately launched the arts and crafts movement. Alice Motard tells us more about the show, which she co-curated along with Alex Sainsbury.
WHITEWALL: How does “Unto This Last” represent what John Ruskin wrote about the consequences of capitalism, textile workers and the industrial revolution?
ALICE MOTARD: I should maybe make it clear that “Unto This Last,” the exhibition, does not intend to illustrate the theories that John Ruskin expounded in his eponymous book. Rather, his writings served as a starting point, which allowed us to expand on contemporary artistic practices involving craft at a time when the capitalist model of production is facing renewed criticism. In actual fact, Ruskin is less known as a political economist than as a pioneering figure of the Arts and Crafts movement, which advocated the return to artisanship against the alienation of factory work and the division of labour. With the advent of modernity and its unwavering belief in technological progress, positions like his were deemed conservative and backward – a view which has prevailed to this day. At the same time, a substantial part of today's capitalist critique carries a strange echo to Ruskin's moral condemnation of unrestrained greed and his call for a return to basic values, including in the arts.
WW: Why was this a topic you wanted to approach?
AM: We felt that the recurrence of artisanal practices in art on the backdrop of a global liberal economy deserved to be given a thought. It seemed to indicate that our view on craft was changing while, concomitantly, the issue of morality was resurfacing in the public debate. The two are linked to the extent that craft is still widely perceived as an expression of conservative, i.e. anti-progressive values, such as skill, honesty and community, as opposed to the cynical stance associated with late capitalism. This relationship seemed to enshrine an interesting debate as it concerned the joint developments of artistic practice and society at large.
Isabelle Cornaro, Homonymes, 2010, plaster, 47 x 24 x 13 inches, courtesy the artist and Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris.
WW: How did you go about choosing the artists that will participate?
AM: As with any show, the choice of artists was informed by works seen in other exhibitions, which left a lasting impression on us. Běla Kolářova, who was “rediscovered” by the past documenta, is a case in point here. There are a number of artists in the show whose work we have been following for quite some time now (Thomas Bayrle, Isabelle Cornaro, Dewar & Gicquel, Pernille Kapper Williams), while others are emerging figures on the London scene (Alice Channer and Andrea Büttner). Furthermore, we looked at artistic approaches rather than individual works; each artist is thus represented with several works throughout the exhibition. More particularly, the focus lay on artists whose practice made direct or indirect use of crafts, in the broadest sense, while weaving it into a wider conceptual approach. The apparent dichotomy between concept and craft – or reason and affect, if you will – is used by many artists as a means to take a fresh look at a wide range of topics, whether personal, collective or more distinctly aesthetic.
WW: In what way will Sarah Browne complement the installation, being the youngest artist of the group?
AM: As you would expect, age was not a criteria in our choice of artists. The doyenne of the show, Běla Kolářova, for instance, was born in 1923 (she sadly passed away a few days ago). As for Sarah Browne, we were captivated by her use of ‘domestic’ techniques to create temporary economic systems. If I were to describe her work somewhat simplistically, I would say that it is based on the notion that economy is the driving force behind social relations while revealing how seemingly rational decisions are in fact steered by emotion and affect. In this respect, it epitomizes the strategies and issues around which the exhibition revolves.
WW: How do the artists that you've selected fit into the greater Arts and Crafts movement?
AM: I'm pretty sure that if asked this question, most of them would say that they don't. It might be closer to the truth to say that the artists in this exhibition make use or divert techniques or methods which are loosely associated with artisanship while reconciling them with approaches inherited from Conceptualism. To some extent, their work confirms Glenn Adamson's analysis according to which academia has consistently entertained an undue separation between craft and avant-garde practices. By using the subversive potential of craft that evolves from this misconception, today's artists demonstrate that this distinction is essentially obsolete.
Dewar & Gicquel, Boxing Gloves, 2006, kangaroo skins, 24 X 31 X 16 inches, photo by Bruno Scotti, courtesy the artists and Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris.
