Upcycle: from packaging to art 19 February - 2 March 2025 Private View: Tuesday 18 February, 5.30 - 8pm

 

from packaging to art 19 February - 2 March 2025 Private View: Tuesday 18 February, 5.30 - 8pm Great Pulteney Street Gallery, 36 Great Pulteney Street, London W1F 9NS   RSVP Gavin Turk | Leo Fitzmaurice | Marisa Culatto | Russell Herron | Sam Hodge Sarah Pettitt | Shane Bradford | Susan Collis curated by Paul Carey-Kent Upcycle is an exhibition that explores the value assigned to materials in contemporary society. Eight artists show work of, from and with the layers of packaging usually discarded once they have disgorged their content.   In Sam Hodge’s and Marisa Culatto’s work, packaging becomes the medium, while Susan Collis and Russell Herron make throwaway materials their lead subject; Gavin Turk and Leo Fitzmaurice turn spent vessels into artefacts. Shane Bradford’s paintings bear titles inspired by overpromising sales slogans, whereas Sarah Pettit’s abstract constructions are reminders of what is missing.   Presented together they become a playful response to mass production and consumerism, evidence of which abounds at the exhibition's location in Central London. Launched in summer 2024, Great Pulteney Street Gallery is owned by Soho Housing Association who believe it is important for hospitality and creative workers to live near their place of work, to maintain the character of Soho and its origins as a living, working village. Like many buildings in Soho, 36 Great Pulteney Street was formerly home to a diverse range of makers, who typically both lived and worked in their premises. It remains a mixed-use building, with five affordable homes above the ground and lower ground exhibition spaces which make up the gallery.

Gavin Turk (b. 1967) is a British born, internationally renowned artist, who lives and works in London. He has pioneered many forms of contemporary British sculpture, including the painted bronze, the waxwork, the recycled art-historical icon and the use of rubbish in art. Gavin Turk’s work is held within public and private collections worldwide, including but not limited to the TATE, Museum of Modern Art New York, Museum MMK Für Moderne Kunst, Musée Magritte Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Marisa Culatto (b. 1964, Canary Islands) is a multimedia artist who lives and works the UK. Her practice evolved from digital photography that blur the boundary between lens-based media and painting to works on paper.   Culatto's award-winning photography has been widely exhibited in her native Spain and across the UK, culminating in a well-received photo book of frozen still lifes. Her work is held in notable collections, including Saro León and Soho House. Most recently she has shown at The Garden of Tomorrow Festival and the Royal Watercolour Society Open. Sam Hodge (b. 1963) lives in London and works from her studio at Chisenhale Art Place and at East London Printmakers. She originally studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and then trained and worked as a painting conservator (including a period at Tate) before focusing on making her own work in 2008. Since then, she has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions and been selected for opens and art residencies in the UK and abroad. Her work in is numerous private and corporate collections and her artist’s book has been acquired by public collections including MoMA and The Met in New York.   Shane Bradford is a British painter (b. 1971) who is particularly known for objects that span painting and sculpture. Bradford has exhibited widely in Britain, Europe and the USA Leo Fitzmaurice (b. 1963) was born in Shropshire and now lives and works in Merseyside. He studied painting at De Montfort University, Liverpool John Moores University, and also completed an MA in Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. Fitzmaurice is represented by The Sunday Painter. His work features in many collections including The Arts Council Collection of England, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Government Art Collection, Modern Forms, The Royal London Hospital, Locus+ Archive and numerous private collections. Russell Herron (b. 1967) is a London based artist who trained in Drama at Exeter University. His work has been exhibited in the UK and Europe including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, the ING Discerning Eye and the Derwent Art Prize. His works have been exhibited internationally and are in many private collections throughout the world. Sarah Pettitt (b. 1978) is a London-based artist. She studied MA Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art and subsequently developed the research project The Tyranny of Surface at University College London. Pettitt has been resident artist at the Vermont Studio Centre and participated in PRAKSIS OSLO’s residency Out Looking Inwards, a practical investigation into the concerns of contemporary painting. Her most recent solo show was Out to Sea, curated by Jason Andrew. Susan Collis (b. 1956) is a British artist working in London. She studied sculpture, gaining a BA (Hons) at the Chelsea School of Art, London and an MA from the Royal College of Art. Collis is represented by Seventeen. Her work has been toured as part of international museum shows. Recent solo exhibitions include Touchstone Rochdale, Meessen de Clercq, Brussels, Espacio Minimo, Madrid and Ikon, Birmingham. Collis was selected as the Commissioned Artist for The Armory Fair 2010 and published three charity editions to benefit MOMA, New York.

Top image: Leo Fitzmaurice, Feeling the squeeze, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and The Sunday Painter.