Bloomberg New Contemporaries visit

Bloomberg New Contemporaries 

History Of The Exhibition 

The New Contemporaries originates from 1949 as an exhibition of British Society of Artist Galleries, later becoming the independent organisation it is today since 1988.

What I found intriguing is the exhibitions rule-breaking attitude against the 'norm' of the art industry; the 1970 Royal Academy exhibition caused controversy due to the decision to empower students with the ability to control selection themselves.

Not long after in 1973 the exhibition was revived and renamed as New Contemporaries with it's first showing at the centrepiece of British arts at Camden Arts Centre in 1974.

The exhibition remained to be held and selected by students every year, and by the 1980's the show was held regularly at the ICA in Manchester.

1986 was a turning point as student organisers were wracked by debt, causing the exhibition to be disbanded; changes were made to the exhibitions structure following a report commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1987. This new structure involved support from professionals alongside an outside team of Arts professionals in selection, allowing the exhibition to relaunch at ICA again in 1989 and maintaining an annual presence.

In 1996 the exhibition gained a commitment to Liverpool, premiering every two years as part of Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art. 

Previous Type / Publications

1997

The 1997 publication design is effective in presenting a very playful aspect of the exhibition; I love the inclusion of the CD as it gives the publication a more tactile feel as well as encapsulating its late 90's setting. One word that comes to mind when considering themes of the exhibition is the idea of reflection; the exhibition itself serves as a reflection of a new generation of artists, alongside reflecting the constantly changing landscapes of art (especially postmodernism regarding 1997). Personally, I don't like how crowded the type is for this publication as it feels slightly claustrophobic, which kind of contradicts the freeness of the exhibition. However, another key element of this design that I'm inspired by is the idea of the CD serving as a kind of mixtape; symbolically, the exhibition has many mixtape attributes as it is a collection of a wide variation of upcoming artists. In my response to the exhibition, the theme of collection and curation might play a significant role.

2002

The 2002 publication takes a much more minimalistic approach through its very clean, sans serif type design; to some degree, I like how this mirrors the freshness of new contemporaries, revealing an exciting time for new artists within the exhibition. This clean, white font is then juxtaposed by an almost snake-like texture in the background; I suppose this adds an element of conflict, which is a key word that came to mind when visiting the exhibition, as there was a conflict/contrast between the massive variation of the artists work. The snake-like quality of this publication reminded me of the idea of a revival regarding the exhibition, as like a snake shedding it's skin, the exhibition annually introduces a new group of artists to the art and design world. In a sense, this amplifies the theme of a new start, linking quite literally to the title 'new contemporaries'.

2011

The 2011 publication really encapsulates my initial attraction to the theme of reflection, however it plays on an abstracted and warped idea of reflection and mirroring. Visually, the design is very striking and is intriguing to look at due to the many interpretations you can make of the image; for instance, from afar, it reminds me of a metallic gold foil, whereas from a closer perspective it reminds me of a warped TV screen. This duality is quite an interesting theme to look into for my response as it is very symbolic of the versatility of the exhibition; the new contemporaries showcases art from a wide variation of new artists, preventing anything to be weighed down by stereotypes. Additionally, there is an undeniable movement to the design, which provides a kinaesthetic sense of flow; to some extent, this contributes to the idea of the exhibition and the artwork showcased constantly evolving. Regarding the type for this publication, the design is very minimal and uses sans serifs again, I suppose it works to communicate the image and place emphasis on it. Considering the theme of reflection, I could possibly introduce reflective vinyl into my response.  

2017

The 2017 publication introduces much more of a focus on type design than any of the previous covers; this type is effectively very playful, and appears to merge a wide variation of thick and thin strokes. I like how this mix of line weights gives quite a fluid appearance, which relates to the idea that the artists within the exhibition are not set in stone regarding their reputation; they have the freedom to experiment and be playful. Furthermore, the concept of the type blending lots of shapes reminds me of how the exhibition serves as a curation of very different artists and artwork, yet, like the type for this publication, the artists are very different on their own, but are joined together by representing the new contemporaries. 

Previous Designers

Glenn Brown (1990)

I find this painting very interesting as it represents quite a futuristic perspective, thus relating to the concept of the new contemporaries. This piece is hugely different from Brown's current work, as it features angular precision compared to his matured, long flowing brushstrokes currently. This links back to my initial focus on the evolution of artists and how the exhibition serves (and served) as an opportunity to experiment freely as a new artist.

Porchia (1993-4)

'Prospeculum' is a mixed media piece consisting of newspaper clippings and graphic video clips soundtracked to 'misogynist rap music'. The intentions of the piece is to rebel against the common stereotypes of women, and to signify the vast amount of myths and attitudes in pop culture (during the 1990s). What I love about this work is that it captures the attitudes of a postmodern exhibition, as well as the ethos of new artists within the exhibition; it creates a focus on the themes of rebellion and links to the idea of the exhibition giving a voice and representation to subcultures within the art industry. 

David Harding (1999)

Hardings' film for the new contemporaries exhibition celebrates different cultures and different ways of living; this links to my focus on the theme of rebellion regarding the ethos of the exhibition, as this piece rebels against the typical 'western' way of life. Harding gained insight to an array of cultures, through working with tribal peoples in South India and travelling through 50 countries. In a sense, this further contributes to the exhibitions nature in itself; the exhibition represents an array of different people, perspectives, and possibly different ways of living.

Adam Hogarth (2015)

What I admire about this piece is the childish/playful colour palette that creates an incredibly striking appearance; it again emphasises the 'newness' of the artists of the exhibition, as well as developing a fun environment. This exciting atmosphere also displays the freedom of the new generation of artists to stray from stereotypes. Additionally, Hogarth's work features the motif of exposed body parts and corporial imagery; in a sense, this resinates with the intimacy of the exhibition, as it is most likely the first large exposure the new contemporaries past and present will have experienced. Furthermore, this intimacy relates to the celebration of each individual artists personality within their work, as the exhibition showcases a wide range of perspectives and identities.  

Ethos and Aims 

The Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition was set up in order to provide a platform to showcase new contemporary artists work, and support them in the transition from education to professional practice. 

Students and graduates have always been at the centrepoint within the exhibition, even being given the opportunity to select the work for the shows themselves alongside the help of professional artists. 

The exhibition allows new artists to gain an insight into their emerging practice and preparation for the complications within the art industry.

The whole exhibition is based around the increasingly difficult environment for emerging artists within the UK's art industry, in which Bloomberg provide artists with support such as mentoring, studio bursaries and residency opportunities.  

Regarding the exhibitions ethos and aims, I could translate the idea of support and celebration into my response.

Architecture of the Gallery

Exposure 

What I mainly noticed with the Leeds Arts Gallery was that exposed framework was common; it complimented the artwork quite well as it provided a kind of framework to all of the artists pieces. Furthermore, I focused on this idea of exposure as ceiling windows also featured a lot, relating to exposed light on the exhibition. This could be interpreted as a symbol for the theme of exposure throughout the exhibition; the new contemporaries are being exposed to the professional environment of the UK art scene. This image of the frame work could work quite well as a grid for my typography response, as it provides a sense of structure relating to the architecture of the gallery. 

Grandeur/Heritage  

I found some old map layouts in the gallery, which show the original building design. The roof structures are quite interesting as they could possibly be manipulated into a typeface, or even used as a grid. One of the main elements of the building design was the sense of grandeur and tradition, which reflected the more traditional aspect of the art gallery; consequently, this created a certain conflict with the contemporary artwork within the exhibition, which emphasised the idea of emerging artists in a traditional setting.

Artworks (2019 Show)

Jonas Pequeno 

'Timeliner' (2018)

This piece plays with the idea of echoes and reverberation within an environment using a sound loop with physical objects such as the triangle and bell. I found 'Timeliner' immediately intriguing as you can hear the chimes of the piece as soon as you enter the exhibition. In a sense, the exploration of sound overlaps the work within the exhibition, relating to the themes of conflict between the individual artworks. Personally, I think you could interpret the piece as a sort of countdown due to it's very short (eventually annoying) loop; emphasis is placed on the third chime with a reverb/echo. To some extent, the idea of echoes is interesting as it links to the sense of all of the artwork in the exhibition bouncing off each other with a multitude of differing perspectives. This idea of a repeated loop could play into my response, as I could potentially develop a rule of three to accompany the three chimes. 

Emily Stollery 

'Stand, Lean, Others Don't (They Don't Do That)' (2018)

Stollery's piece for the exhibition stems from her fascination with the seductive properties of materials and the process of assemblage; arguably, the process of assembling materials together very much captures the purpose of collecting an array of art for the exhibition itself. I really like how tactile this piece is; the shapes and their placement almost feel like a setting within the building themselves, alongside having a slightly interactive aspect too. Furthermore, Stollery has a strong focus on the flow of her work and the idea of spontaneity; this presents themes of reinvention through her artist statement of 'constant remaking' and 'iteration after iteration'. Consequently, I can take inspiration from this focus on continuous evolution in my response; there could be a certain flow to my work and I could feature a sense of organic structures to represent the organic nature of new contemporaries and how they work through spontaneity.

Laura Hindmarsh
'Screen Studies'
(2014-2019)

'Screen Studies' is a collection of paintings that capture the element of reflection and self image. This concept of self image is incredibly relevant to the exhibition as new artists will be on a continuous journey towards finding their 'image' as a creative. Arguably, this presents the challenges facing new artists in todays professional art industry. Additionally, this concept of reflection could also be interpreted as the idea of evolution and growth as an artist, which could inspire my typeface to expand and grow/reflect this - could possibly grow across the room?

I also like the inclusion of digital references in this piece, as it really reflects the new generation of contemporary artists with a fixation with image regarding social media in the digital age. Arguably, the piece criticises this fixation and relates to the common theme of rebellion and need for progression throughout the exhibition. 

Elenora Agostini 

'Relaxation Island' 

(2018)

Agostini's work concentrates on day to day life and everyday objects in a collective manor; this piece reimagines an unusual composition of household objects. What I love about this piece is how it relates to the collective nature of the exhibition itself; all of these chairs don't necessarily fit together perfectly like each individual artist, yet they form one singular composition as a community of emerging contemporary artists. Creating a composition of conflict. Furthermore, I think that the structure of this image is very interesting, as there is a lot of empty space between objects which could be featured as a grid for my type response.  

Key Words

(all key words are highlighted in bold throughout the post)

Grids 

Initially, there were many structures within the exhibition that I could interpret as a grid to form a typeface; the majority were taken from the architecture of the building itself such as the window frames, gates or even the map designs. Additionally, I could also interpret some artwork as a grid such as Glenn Brown's 1990 exhibition piece. The only issue is I need a solid reasoning for using these grids in order to communicate my ideas effectively; I could use the architectural elements in order to express the theme of support and framework that the exhibition offers to new contemporaries. 

Modular Forms 

There are a lot of shapes that I found quite interesting from the exhibition and my research which could be effective as forming a modular type face. The wires and unusual shapes in Pequeno's 'Timeliner' might be interesting in communicating the idea of flow, or the shapes of the chairs and gaps in Agostini's 'Relaxation Island' could communicate the collective nature of the exhibition. 

Rules

It's pretty early to develop some solid rules initially, but the idea of reflection and echoes has inspired me, especially in Hindmarsh's 'Screen Studies' and Pequeno's 'Timeliner' as I could use the three chimes in his piece as a rule of three. Additionally, I was considering looking at sound waves and the scientific rules of reflection to create a rule; I could also intertwine a reflective element into the type specimen such as reflective vinyl or maybe reflective paper?

Initial Sketches