Ah, Sugar is a solo exhibition by Marlene Smith that brings together newly-commissioned photographic and sculptural work that demonstrates the artist’s ongoing interest in the material and bodily qualities of artistic practice. The show is curated by Cubitt Fellow Seán Elder, who is a Glasgow School of Art Curatorial Practice (Visual Art) graduate. The show was first shown in London at Cubitt, and now runs at Reid Gallery, 2 November until 14 December 2024.
Marlene Smith is a British artist and curator, and one of the founding members of the BLK Art Group. She was director of The Public in West Bromwich and UK Research Manager for Black Artists and Modernism, a collaborative research project run by the University of the Arts London and Middlesex University. Smith’s practice, which has spanned decades, is predicated on an investment in the materiality of objects both inherited and created. Through experimentation with their properties, biography becomes not a means of classification and stratification, but instead a similarly malleable object engaged, activated, and transformed through artistic practice.
These works make inquiries into the cyclical nature of social histories and familial entanglements. In a body of three-dimensional work developed with Smith’s inherited collection of textiles, impressions and imprints are visible from adornments, table settings, and her parent’s own wardrobes, which become a series of iced sugar sculptures. Textiles appear again as materials that interact with the human body in a series of portraits, abstracted through close looking and performative gestures, that Smith has developed with friend and long-time collaborator, Ajamu.
Smith has recently exhibited work as part of ‘Women In Revolt’ at Tate Britain and National Galleries of Scotland, ‘The More Things Change’ at Wolverhampton Art Gallery; ‘Cut & Mix’ New Art Exchange, Nottingham; ‘The Place Is Here: The Work of Black Artists in 1980s Britain’ Nottingham Contemporary.
Seán Elder is the fourteenth Curatorial Fellow at Cubitt. Elder is a graduate of GSA’s Curatorial Practice (Visual Art) course. They were- also educated at Schools of Art in Birmingham, and Aberdeen. Elder recently completed a doctoral research project examining the role of affect within curatorial writing practices. Previously they were Associate Curator at Grand Union, Birmingham, and worked independently with a number of organisations and artists to develop writing, exhibitions, screenings, and events.
Elder has grown from, through, and with relationships with artists including; Gordon Douglas, Rami George, Benny Nemer, Kirsty Russell, Tako Taal, Rehana Zaman and many more, with organisations including; Jerwood Arts, London; Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee; Grand Union, Birmingham; BALTIC 39, Newcastle; The Stuart Croft Foundation; Collective Gallery, Edinburgh; Hospitalfield, Arbroath; BEK, Bergen; LUX Scotland.
This exhibition is supported by Arts Council England, Jerwood New Work Fund, Henry Moore Foundation and Lubaina Himid.
Exhibition Preview : 5 – 7pm Friday 1st November. Free but ticketed on Eventbrite.
Artist in Conversation : There will be an in-conversation preceding the preview between Marlene Smith and Seán Elder, 5-6pm Friday 1 November. Tickets are free, though numbers are limited, and can be booked on Eventbrite.
The exhibition runs from 2nd November – 14th December at the Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, 164 Renfrew Street, Glasgow G3 6RQ.
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat: 10am to 4.30pm. Sun: Closed
For further information please contact press@gsa.ac.uk
NOTES FOR EDITORS
REID GALLERY at The Glasgow School of Art has a curated year-round public programme that links into GSA staff research, teaching and learning, student experience, creative networks, our communities, contemporary practice and heritage. Exhibitions and events take place both at GSA and external venues.
CUBITT is an artist-led co-operative in London, built on a belief in the value of art and artists in society. Founded by a group of artists in 1991, Cubitt consists of a non-profit gallery, community and education programme and 32 low-cost artist studios in Islington.
THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3500 students and staff across architecture, design, digital, fine art and innovation in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1500 students annually.
