Fuit Hic (wrapped waste)

Painted bronze

Wrapped

Rubbish

Painted Bronze

Wrapped object from waste products used to make the show ‘Negotiation of Purpose’

Bronze Roller (Wrapped Waste)

Wrapped object from waste products used to make the show ‘Negotiation of Purpose’

The idea for this artwork was to completely wrap a car in canvas and allow it to become a painting by exposing it to the elements. Over the course of its journeys, the car would become marked with dust particles, exhaust fumes, mud, and other accidental or weather-induced stains.

The car was unveiled as part of the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair in June, where Gavin also sold a unique edition of 50 pieces called Emission Edition. The pieces were created by holding a canvas against an exhaust pipe and then accelerating, the soot from the exhaust leaving a unique mark on each canvas.

Mummy

Car and canvas

The idea for this artwork was to completely wrap a car in canvas and allow it to become a painting by exposing it to the elements. Over the course of its journeys, the car would become marked with dust particles, exhaust fumes, mud, and other accidental or weather-induced stains. The car was unveiled as part of the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair in June, where Gavin also sold a unique edition of 50 pieces called Emission Edition. The pieces were created by holding a canvas against an exhaust pipe and then accelerating, the soot from the exhaust leaving a unique mark on each canvas.

Transit

Vehicles

Sculpture

The idea for this artwork was to completely wrap a car in canvas and allow it to become a painting by exposing it to the elements. Over the course of its journeys, the car would become marked with dust particles, exhaust fumes, mud, and other accidental or weather-induced stains.

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the &lsquo;Negotiation of Purpose&rsquo; exhibition to cover the piece &lsquo;The Second Coming&rsquo;, after which this piece is titled.

The Second Coming

Cotton dust sheet, rope, twine & debris

Waste

Mixed Media

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the ‘Negotiation of Purpose’ exhibition to cover the piece ‘The Second Coming’, after which this piece is titled.

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the &lsquo;Negotiation of Purpose&rsquo; exhibition to cover the piece &lsquo;Zeuxis and Parrhasius&rsquo;, after which this piece is titled. Every art exhibition has an &lsquo;opening&rsquo; or &lsquo;private view&rsquo;: An event which publically announces that the exhibition is open. Often in smaller exhibitions put on by galleries that have next to no marketing budget, more people attend the opening event than over the rest of the period of the exhibition. This is a very frustrating situation for the artist, who realizes (through his or her own experience) that people do not attend art openings to spend quality time with the art but to &lsquo;clock&rsquo; the art and chat to the other people. The idea of &lsquo;who&rsquo; was at the opening becomes slightly more important than &lsquo;what&rsquo; was at the opening.For the opening of his exhibition &lsquo;The Stuff Show&rsquo; at the South London Gallery 1998, as an extension of this thought and to generate a piece of thought-provoking performance art, the Artist made a controversial decision. As the visitors arrived at the opening they were confronted by the sight of eighteen pieces of art: free standing sculptures of various sizes, as well as large and small wall pieces, all elegantly covered &lsquo;Christo style&rsquo; with beige linen dustsheets. Christo is an artist who is famous for his wrapped sculptures which vary in scale and ambition from a recognizable chair form to more ambitions architectural projects such as wrapping the Reichstag in Germany. Most visitors to the private view found the event confusing or even offensive: were they not trusted to evaluate and &lsquo;see&rsquo; the art? Now they would have to find their way back to the gallery if they wished to view the actual art later on (the dustsheets were removed the next morning ready for the regular visitors).For Open House, Sherborne, the artist has represented the dustsheets from the exhibition in a perspex vitrine. The name Zeuxis and Parrhasios comes from the famous ancient Greek anecdote as retold in the book &lsquo;Stealing the Mona Lisa. What Art Stops Us From Seeing&rsquo;, by psychoanalyst Darian Leader. This is the story of two artists who compete with each other to make a great painting. Zeuxis paints some grapes that are so lifelike that they attract some birds. Parrhasios then invites him to pull back the curtain covering his own masterwork, but when Zeuxis tries to do so, he finds that the curtain itself is the painting. Zeuxis and the birds are both deceived by an image and are both frustrated by the seeming deception, perhaps more than the skill and thought that went into the image.

Zeuxis and Parrhasius (Wrapped Waste)

Debris wrapped in the dust sheets and rope used at the opening of the ‘Negotiation of Purpose’ exhibition to cover the piece ‘Zeuxis and Parrhasius’, after which this piece is titled.

Wrapped object from waste products used to make the show &lsquo;Negotiation of Purpose&rsquo;

Pile (wrapped object)

Debris, dust sheet and rope

Appropriation

Dust sheets &amp; debris used to cover the piece Relic during an exhibition opening.

Relic (Wrapped Waste)

Dust sheets & debris used to cover the piece Relic during an exhibition opening.

A pile of the dustsheets that were used to cover up all the works for the private view of 'The Stuff Show' at the South London Gallery displayed in a clear perspex vitrine.

Every art exhibition has an ‘opening’ or ‘private view’: An event which publically announces that the exhibition is open. Often in smaller exhibitions put on by galleries that have next to no marketing budget, more people attend the opening event than over the rest of the period of the exhibition. This is a very frustrating situation for the artist, who realizes (through his or her own experience) that people do not attend art openings to spend quality time with the art but to ‘clock’ the art and chat to the other people. The idea of ‘who’ was at the opening becomes slightly more important than ‘what’ was at the opening.

For the opening of his exhibition ‘The Stuff Show’ at the South London Gallery 1998, as an extension of this thought and to generate a piece of thought-provoking performance art, the Artist made a controversial decision. As the visitors arrived at the opening they were confronted by the sight of eighteen pieces of art: free standing sculptures of various sizes, as well as large and small wall pieces, all elegantly covered ‘Christo style’ with beige linen dustsheets. 
Christo is an artist who is famous for his wrapped sculptures which vary in scale and ambition from a recognizable chair form to more ambitions architectural projects such as wrapping the Reichstag in Germany. 
Most visitors to the private view found the event confusing or even offensive: were they not trusted to evaluate and ‘see’ the art? Now they would have to find their way back to the gallery if they wished to view the actual art later on (the dustsheets were removed the next morning ready for the regular visitors).

For Open House, Sherborne, the artist has represented the dustsheets from the exhibition in a perspex vitrine. The name Zeuxis and Parrhasios comes from the famous ancient Greek anecdote as retold in the book ‘Stealing the Mona Lisa. What Art Stops Us From Seeing’, by psychoanalyst Darian Leader. This is the story of two artists who compete with each other to make a great painting. Zeuxis paints some grapes that are so lifelike that they attract some birds. Parrhasios then invites him to pull back the curtain covering his own masterwork, but when Zeuxis tries to do so, he finds that the curtain itself is the painting. Zeuxis and the birds are both deceived by an image and are both frustrated by the seeming deception, perhaps more than the skill and thought that went into the image.

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Zeuxis and Parrhasios

Dustsheets in perspex vitrine

A pile of the dustsheets that were used to cover up all the works for the private view of 'The Stuff Show' at the South London Gallery displayed in a clear perspex vitrine.