RUTH CLAXTON: 'Flock' 2007
La Cabine: Ruth Claxton ‘Flock’
24 May – 30 June 2007
‘Flock’ is the group title that Ruth Claxton has given to all her relief sculptures based on bird figurines. This exhibition held in the ‘La Cabine’ basement space of the gallery is Ruth Claxton’s second exhibition at ARQUEBUSE and the first time that Claxton will focus an exhibition entirely on the ‘Flock’ series.
In Claxton’s constructed, topographical landscapes of mirror, coloured glass and steel, ceramic figurines occupy quasi-architectural structures whilst ornamental tigers, deers and other animals roam and graze below. Above all this activity are the nesting sites for porcelain bird figurines placed in the sculptural stratosphere.
Claxton collects her figurines collected from Ebay and junk shops and then works on them so that each creature’s vision is cut off with, for example, masks of paint, crystal adornment or delicate floral motifs modelled by the artist from Fimo clay. By then placing them in specific zones of activity within her sculptural constructions, the figures relate to a natural order, and remind us that although cut off from their world, they are part of a wider, albeit dysfunctional, society.
The term ‘flock’ becomes a misnomer for Claxton’s birds, each of which is an individual, isolated from any sense of community. Beauty and freedom, the ideas that birds universally represent, are undermined. The ceramic bird figurines used in the ‘Flock’ series are placed on aluminium and glass perches mounted to the wall. Rather than aiming for the heavens the glass and mirror supports can only reflect empty space below. The birds are grounded, and become the ultimate symbol of a world gone wrong.
Ruth Claxton (b. 1971, UK) is represented by ARQUEBUSE and this is her second solo exhibition at the gallery. After completing her MA at the Royal College of Art, London in 2002, Ruth Claxton has been included in exhibitions at Transition, London (2006), The Collective, Edinburgh (2006); The Drawing Room, London (2006), Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (2005), fa projects (2004), East International, Norwich (2003). She will have her first solo Museum exhibition at the IKON Gallery, Birmingham in March 2008. This work has been developed during a production residency at Spike Island, Bristol.
Flock (Assembly) 2007, Wall-based sculpture in four parts: glass, vinyl, aluminium, found ornaments, crystals,fimo, spray paint, beads, cake decorations. Total dimension: 76 x 240cm, (A00275)
Flock (Assembly) (detail) 2007, Wall-based sculpture in four parts: glass, vinyl, aluminium, found ornaments, crystals,fimo, spray paint, beads, cake decorations. Total dimension: 76 x 240cm, (A00275)