Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth is delighted to announce the first large scale solo exhibition in a public gallery by London Group member Amanda Loomes.
Aspex Gallery
The Vulcan Building, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, PO1 3BF
18 JANUARY – 24 MARCH 2019
Open 11-4pm Wednesday to Sunday
PREVIEW: Thursday 17 January, 18.00hrs
A former civil engineer, artist/film-maker Amanda Loomes brings her technical expertise to an exploration of the materials, companies and individuals that make and maintain the roads we all use. In the exhibition Formation Level Amanda uses experimental documentary techniques to record the processes and hidden narratives of the labour and materials embedded in our roads, including the manufacture of road sweepers.
The artist said:
“People at work have always preoccupied me. I am particularly moved by work that is repeated or undone and the effort of people whose work goes unnoticed. In my practice I am drawn to record their labour as I try to capture the frailty and resilience of human endeavour”.
The exhibition will also comprise material from Amanda’s own archive of her time as a civil engineer, including photographs, diagrams and other ephemera.
The artist completed an MA in Fine Art Painting at the Royal College of Art (2006), and BA Fine Art Painting at University of the Arts, London (2004). She has exhibited widely, including Oriel Davies Open (2018), Supporting Material, UCA Canterbury (2017), Jerwood Open Forest, Jerwood Space (2014) and has undertaken permanent commissions with Metal, Southend (2017), and Trust New Art, National Trust Lyme (2016). She has been a member of The London Group of artists since (2008). She has previously exhibited at Aspex as part of EMERGENCY (2011) and South Central (2014). The exhibition also features Relict Material a film installation co-commissioned by Photoworks and HOUSE in 2015 and her recent film Whole made in the sand quarries of the Surrey Hills, commissioned as part of Surrey Unearthed (2018).
Director of Aspex, Joanne Bushnell said:
“We first started working with Amanda on the development of this show when she won our South Central award in 2014. We have valued the opportunity to work closely with her for many years, supporting her ongoing professional development. It’s been great to see other opportunities such as the Photoworks/HOUSE commission come her way, and to see her practice grow from strength to strength.”
Amanda will also be taking part in a seminar at Aspex on Saturday 2 March, 2pm. Gareth Bell-Jones, Curator and Director of Flat Time House and Dr Erika Balsom, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at Kings College London will be joining the panel.
More information and Aspex Gallery website here