An exhibition of new work by Rachel Lowther
responding to the GSA’s Archives and Collections WWI holdings and investigating
recent conflicts.
responding to the GSA’s Archives and Collections WWI holdings and investigating
recent conflicts.
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Rachel Lowther: Nothing compares to the first time |
In 1914 Carl Beard – a tall Yorkshire lad, who looked
older than his 17 years,
older than his 17 years,
received the flimsiest and gentlest of
objects that was to result in his death by 18
objects that was to result in his death by 18
on a battlefield in France. A white feather. (He had become a man.)
For her specially commissioned exhibition, which runs in the Reid
Gallery at The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) from 16 January to 20 March 2016,
artist Rachel Lowther draws on contemporary conflicts and research she was
invited to undertake into the GSA Archives and Collections’ World War I
holdings. How can (or even should) art respond to bodies torn apart, flesh and
bone melted by white phosphorus, children tortured or bombed as they play on a
beach, families dreaming of drones and letters from
grieving parents?
Gallery at The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) from 16 January to 20 March 2016,
artist Rachel Lowther draws on contemporary conflicts and research she was
invited to undertake into the GSA Archives and Collections’ World War I
holdings. How can (or even should) art respond to bodies torn apart, flesh and
bone melted by white phosphorus, children tortured or bombed as they play on a
beach, families dreaming of drones and letters from
grieving parents?
During WWI Fra Newbery, GSA Director at
the time, wrote: “The brightest colours that Art can assume at the
present time, not only fail to attract attention, but like a gaily dressed
woman at a funeral, mankind wonders that she show herself at all!”
the time, wrote: “The brightest colours that Art can assume at the
present time, not only fail to attract attention, but like a gaily dressed
woman at a funeral, mankind wonders that she show herself at all!”
Lowther has used her research to inspire a new body of work for the Reid Gallery, including
sculpture, film and embroideries that explore the human
impulse for fighting and violence. Lowther questions
the comfortable position of making art in a world that is anything but
comfortable – the exhibition’s title a quote from a British soldier
serving in Afghanistan in 2010.
sculpture, film and embroideries that explore the human
impulse for fighting and violence. Lowther questions
the comfortable position of making art in a world that is anything but
comfortable – the exhibition’s title a quote from a British soldier
serving in Afghanistan in 2010.
Lowther has made her
first complete sculptures of the human figure – measured, considered and modeled
in clay over weeks, and transformed in minutes with a pickaxe handle. With the help of artist and filmmaker, Anne-Marie Copestake, the
attacks have been captured in short films.
first complete sculptures of the human figure – measured, considered and modeled
in clay over weeks, and transformed in minutes with a pickaxe handle. With the help of artist and filmmaker, Anne-Marie Copestake, the
attacks have been captured in short films.
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New embroidery by artist Rachel Lowther which traces the handwriting of
a WWI solider who writes poignantly how he is “once more for the firing line”
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The embroideries retrace the marks of wounded, resting
and “bloodthirsty” soldiers, grief stricken parents and the immediate scars of
war. A war memorial invokes inverted masculine physical prowess.
and “bloodthirsty” soldiers, grief stricken parents and the immediate scars of
war. A war memorial invokes inverted masculine physical prowess.
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Rachel Lowther: Tombstone on the Turnbuckle, 2014, video still.
The artist’s nephew providing live sports commentary as he plays
with part of his vast collection of wrestling figures
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Violence infuses the
intimate and domestic: banners made from floral bed sheets are printed with
images from war ravaged cities, or men wrestling; a film depicts a little boy
at play, acting out a brutal battle royal with a hoard of burly action figures.
intimate and domestic: banners made from floral bed sheets are printed with
images from war ravaged cities, or men wrestling; a film depicts a little boy
at play, acting out a brutal battle royal with a hoard of burly action figures.
Rachel Lowther’s
archival research and exhibition have been commissioned by The Glasgow School
of Art, with support from Museums Galleries Scotland WWI Fund.
archival research and exhibition have been commissioned by The Glasgow School
of Art, with support from Museums Galleries Scotland WWI Fund.
Joanne Orr, CEO of
Museums Galleries Scotland, said “This project by The Glasgow School of Art
exemplifies what Museums Galleries Scotland hoped to support through our WWI
Fund. We asked for new ways of
commemorating the First World War and the lasting impact it has had on
Scotland’s people and cultural landscape and the work by Rachel Lowther forms a
lasting and thought provoking legacy for new generations.”
Museums Galleries Scotland, said “This project by The Glasgow School of Art
exemplifies what Museums Galleries Scotland hoped to support through our WWI
Fund. We asked for new ways of
commemorating the First World War and the lasting impact it has had on
Scotland’s people and cultural landscape and the work by Rachel Lowther forms a
lasting and thought provoking legacy for new generations.”
Ends
Further information:
Lesley Booth
0779 941 4474
press@gsa.ac.uk
Notes for Editors
- A
concurrent exhibition in the Reid Ground Floor Corridor, From the service of Venus to the worship of Mars, curated by
Lowther, will feature some of the material from GSA Archives & Collections
WWI Holdings which the artist found during her research.
- The
Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections Centre holds a substantial
collection of WWI related material. This includes GSA Director, Francis (Fra) Newbery’s correspondence
files; letters to and from students and staff relating to their war service
and/or their attendance at GSA during the 1914‐1918
period; background material on the GSA’s Roll of Honour and records relating to
the 1919 War Memorial Fund, and a number of artworks by staff
and students.
- Rachel Lowther: Currently based in Glasgow, Rachel Lowther studied at
Chelsea School of Art, London, the Staedelschule, Frankfurt, and Hunter
College, NYC. She spent 14 years in NYC showing and curating exhibitions
internationally, as well as assisting Jeff Koons and Matthew Barney and
creating a permanent diorama for the American Museum of Natural History, New
York, among other projects. She has most liked showing her work at Participant
Inc, NYC, Thread Waxing Space, NYC, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, Atlanta Contemporary
Art Center, Maschenmode/Guido Baudach, Berlin, The Sculpture Center, New York,
The National Portrait Gallery, London, a hen house in Frankfurt and in
demonstrations on the streets of Glasgow. In 2014, she created an exhibition
for Glasgow International with Kerry Stewart, Georgina Starr and Ana Genoves in
the village hall, Uplawmoor, East Renfrewshire. She is one third of
DEATHANDDADA (with Amalia Theodorakopoulos and Fritz Welch), a Glasgow-based
artist-run alternative space that was active in Glasgow and abroad from
2010-2013.