Past Exhibitions:
The Romance of Dereliction
4 – 19 May 2013
Preview: Saturday 4 May, 6 – 9pm
Aliki Braine | Emma Papworth | Zsuzsanna Nyul | Robert Rapoport | Mary Robinson
In collaboration with Artweeks, emerging curators were invited to respond to OVADA’s new warehouse space with an exhibition by Oxfordshire artists.
The warehouse is a blank canvas in terms of the opportunity and possibility it contains, and yet also a palimpsest, its textured walls asserting a myriad of presences. The space is a paradoxical one. To us its dereliction offers up the promise of creativity. Vein-like cracks, scabbing paint, raw brickwork – these corporeal elements, the lifeblood of the space, present a fertile source of inspiration to both us as curators and to the artists we have invited to the project. The sense of patchwork history that the building evokes have encouraged responses in a variety of media, which seek to imagine its lost narratives and uncover a beauty in the dereliction. As students of History of Art we are accustomed to the ‘gallery space’, the ‘white cube’ where the environment is neutralised and devoid of character; subservient to the artwork. It is rare to find exhibition space that has not been sterilised and this exciting opportunity is one aspect that has really captured our imaginations.
Curated by: Hannah Clark, Emma McKinlay and Rosemary Turner. Follow their progress on the OVADA/Artweeks Curator’s Blog
VENUE: OVADA warehouse
OPEN: Saturdays – Sundays (12-5pm), Thursday evenings (5-8pm) and Bank Holiday Monday (12-5pm).
FREE ADMISSION
With special thanks to:
Proposed Additions
5 – 21 April 2013
Preview: Thursday 4 April, 6 – 9pm
Architrope | Jack Eden | Mimi Joung | Chris Taylor | Sebastian Thomas
Proudly presenting a group exhibition of new work made in response to OVADA’s warehouse. ‘Proposed Additions’ is a collaboration between Oxford and London-based artists who have each used their residency period to explore architectural considerations such as scale, perspective, function and materiality; in turn providing multiple ways for the viewer to perceive, negotiate and relate to the space. The artists have creatively responded to the history and industrial nature of the warehouse and have redefined both architectural boundaries and the behaviour of the building to reflect functional, technical, social, environmental, and aesthetic considerations.
Directly intervening into the constructs of the warehouse, Jack Eden focuses on the interplay between sculptural material and form, and how one affects the other physically, aesthetically, and conceptually. Eden explores how the objective perfection of mathematics can inform, augment or constrain the artwork and how different materials can enhance or negate this formal perfection.
Sebastian Thomas highlights the basic architectural forms typically found in this type of industrial warehouse. Since the building’s construction in 1928, additional rooms, walls and structures have been built, removed and then built up again to accommodate various trades. The constant re-modeling has scarred the interior fabric of the building, leaving a visual history of how the space has functioned over the years.
Also exploring transitional spaces, Architrope disrupts boundaries by using video to explore aspects of what the ‘house’ means to us today. Directed by artist Tom Wolseley, Architrope uses the example of a derelict Georgian town house in Marylebone, where it was shot and first projected. Observations about a variety of subjects are narrated, from descriptions of corroded brickwork to politics and economics, each juxtaposed with the next to create a reflexive space.
Exploring issues of displacement, Mimi Joung uses objects to address a wider discourse, beyond origin and usage, to reference human situations and experience. Joung’s work primarily asks the viewer to respond to the fragility of material. However, it also asks them to think about how our relationship with a particular building changes over time.
Addressing the ‘mapping’ of space, history and architecture, Chris Taylor borrows elements of the warehouse’s structure by recreating and casting sections of the space. This method maps and measures by delving into the history of the building. Taylor presents a more complete view of the warehouse space, its content, layout, construction, history and location both geographically and in time.
The exhibition also examines the relationship between the artists during the production of their work for this group show. The residency period has encouraged both formal and indirect collaborations within the space to create this ambitious and explorative exhibition.
VENUE: OVADA warehouse
OPEN: Thursday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm
FREE ADMISSION
Audiograft at OVADA
Helmut Lemke: Klangeln IX
Helmut Lemke with his Klangeln IX installation
Monday 25 February – Saturday 2 March 2013
OVADA is proud to host Helmut Lemkes’ installation, Klengeln IX. The title comes from a combination of the German word Klang for noise and the English word angler. Experience the sound of oscillating fishing rods vibrating long strings connected to drums, in the evocative and resonating OVADA Warehouse space. This exhibition forms part of the annual audiograft annual festival of contemporary music and sonic art.
VENUE: OVADA warehouse
OPEN: 10 am – 6 pm daily
FREE ADMISSION
Klangeln IX, installed in the OVADA Warehouse February 2013
Spotlight 2012
23 November 2012
For the third year running, OVADA will take over one of the City’s most attractive and historic buildings, Oxford Town Hall, for Christmas Light Night. Artists working in the South East region were selected from open submission to produce and exhibit work that responds to the physical space or the history of Oxford Town Hall. Showcased in the stunning Grade II listed building, the Spotlight 2012 exhibition presents contemporary work in a variety of media, including video, installation and performance. Visitors are invited to explore the Town Hall and discover diverse artworks by:
Chroma Collective
Clair Chinnery
Digital Prisoners
Jeannie Driver
For further information about the exhibition download the Spotlight 201 Floor Plan.
VENUE: Oxford Town Hall
OPEN: 5 – 8pm
FREE ADMISSION
At Play 2012
Now in its 4th year of running, At Play 2012 will bring together 22 artists, making participatory, engaging and interactive work in a variety of art forms across three different venues. Inspired by the Olympic Games coming to Britain, artists consider ideas about the structure of play, exploring the way that play can be free and spontaneous or bound by rules and conventions such as in board games or sports. The viewer is invited to gaze, remember, touch, explore, trust, think, laugh, peer, concentrate and join in. Take a chance… and play. At Play encourages you to feel like a child again.
South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell
21 April – 17 June 2012
The starting line for At Play 2012, South Hill Park will be presenting a wide variety of exciting works from artists: Leszek Blyszczynski, Andi Chapple, James R. Ford, Flora Gare, Nick Kennedy, Philip Lee, Dan Lovelace, Sousan Luqman, Nyeema Morgan, Martina O’Shea, Katherina Radeva, Guy Tarrant, Cally Trench, Kim Walker and Mary Yacoob.
New Ashgate Gallery,
Farnham
8 June – 14 July 2012
South Hill Park will pass the baton over to the New Ashgate Gallery where works by AM Bruno, Linda Francis, Flora Gare, Este MacLeod, Kirsty E Smith and Cally Trench will be exhibited.
OVADA, Oxfordshire
29 June – 4 August 2012
The finishing line for At Play will be at OVADA in Oxford exhibiting work by:
Leszek Blyszczynski
James R.Ford
Linda Francis
Flora Gare
Rebecca Glover
Nick Kennedy
Philip Lee
Dan Lovelace
Sousan Luqman
Nyeema Morgan
Katherina Radeva
Martina O’Shea
Ann Rapstoff
Guy Tarrant
Cally Trench
Mary Yacoob.
Please visit our Listings Page for details of supporting Events and Activities throughout the Exhibition, which include an Experimental Ideas Sharing Session and Family Workshops.
At Play 2012 is a project in partnership with the New Ashgate Gallery, Surrey, South Hill Park, Berkshire, and OVADA, Oxfordshire, exploring concepts of play and participation. At Play is collaboratively produced and curated by Dr Outi Remes, Director of the New Ashgate Gallery, and Cally Trench, artist and independent curator. It is supported by the Arts Council England.
The ‘At Play 2012′ catalogue is available from: Lulu
Watch the ‘At Play 2012′ video on Vimeo
VENUE: OVADA warehouse, 14A Osney Lane, Oxford OX1 1NJ.
OPEN: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays: 10am – 4pm or By Appointment.
Private view with live performances: 29 June 2012, 6pm.
FREE ADMISSION