“This exhibition is a backstage tour of my props cupboard.”
‘Caught Playing’
St Anne’s House, St Anne’s, Bristol
10th - 15th September 2024
Emma Gregory’s first solo show in Bristol, where she lives and works, includes sculpture and prints that move somewhere between abstraction and figuration with photographs of the artist at play.
Play is a word associated with theatre and this exhibition leans towards the performative: the wood and textile sculptures read as props, costumes or sets and motifs such as the stage and proscenium curtains pop up throughout.
Also on show are large photographs documenting the artist engaged in foolery with the works in the gallery. Juxtaposing the documented with the real sets up a peculiar dynamic, as though the audience has arrived late and missed an opportunity to live in the moment.
The sculptural forms here - cones, crinolines and horns - suggest body parts whilst material choices - tea towels, coffee sacks and soft flesh-coloured fabrics - conjure an odd pairing of kitchen and boudoir, discomforting in the context of ‘performance’. Moreover the title itself - Caught playing - suggests naughtiness, and transgression is an underlying theme here. Gregory deals with the inner lives of women and in spilling out her props cupboard she is testing what is deemed to be appropriate conversation in relation to age and sex, caregiving and gender.
Alongside her fine art practice Gregory has been a scenic artist, prop-maker, heritage upholsterer. Solo shows include ‘Semi-permanent Collections’ at Victoria Gallery, Liverpool (2016), ‘Emma Gregory’ curated by Natasha MacVoy, HER MIT Projects Dursley (2019) and ‘Care & Control’ at Birley Gallery, Preston (2022).
The artist would like to thank Natasha MacVoy for her curatorial support.
For more information: www.emmagregory.co.uk / IG @emmagregorymakes.
List of works
Elizabeth Arden (2019), photograph: ‘nude’ coloured tights, cotton reels suspended from an old-fashioned hanger, 50 x 70cm
Waving not Drowning (2024), photograph of the artist playing by Hammer Chen, 100 x 100cm
Talking not Talking (2019), digital print of a collage, originally a hand coloured fashion engraving, 70 x 50cm x 3 identical pieces
Twin-Crinoline (2023 - 24), repurposed Jute sacking, spray paint, repurposed Push-Fit pipe, cotton, metal push clamps, 260 x 60 x 195cm
Dancing as an Hourglass (2024), photograph of the artist playing by Ruby Turner, 70 x 100cm
The Campaign (2020 – 2022), seven prints (photogravure with monotype, Charbonnel etching ink on Somerset paper), repurposed wood from a Victorian home and mdf, 260 x 60 x 195cm
Black Dog Woman Stage (2022 - 23), charcoal drawing with screen printed elements on Fabriano paper, 70 x 100cm
Champion Showjumper (2024), photograph of the artist playing by Ruby Turner, 70 x 100cm
Selection of twelve drawings from 365 drawings (2019), pencil, gouache, etching, screen print, black ink, collage with found material, water colour, gimp pins, 15 x 15cm
Bawd (2022), screenprint, acrylic ink on Somerset paper, 70 x 100cm
Tile-skirt (2022), earthenware hand-built, 4-cord mattress twine, coir, hessian, repurposed wire shopping basket, wood, 43cm x 36cm x 66cm
Prop (2022), repurposed wooden washing line prop, nude bra strap, rubber dishcloth holders, 200 x 300 x 100cm
Place Mat Horns (2022 - 24), repurposed curtain, dishcloth and denim, screen-printed, cotton thread, linen scrim, 55 diameter x 35cm x seven pieces
Chorus Line (2023 – 24), repurposed ply, piano hinge, screenprint, 56 x 350cm
Choppy waters (2023 – 24), repurposed tea towels, graphite, pva, house paint, repurposed timber and hardboard, various dimensions x eleven pieces
Entrance and Exit (2023 – 24), relief prints of a draining board and binding tape in oil based ink on newsprint, pva, repurposed plyboard, pin butt hinges, jute rope, 48 x 210 x 105cm
In Service (2024), photographs (Alice Sheppard Fidler and Ruby Turner) of the artist holding muff mit to suggest female and male genitalia, one on either side of a plywood A-frame with pin butt hinges, 115 x 70cm x 25cm
Twin Peaks (2022 - 24), repurposed Jute sacking, repurposed felt office upholstery fabric, rubber and synthetic materials repurposed from trainer manufacturer, found textiles (‘crazy quilt’) repurposed, cotton thread, elastic bungy cords and steel grappling hooks, 90 x 80 x 240cm
Job-Juggling Slug (2022 - 24), repurposed cook’s apron (marked and greasy), repurposed printer’s apron (marked and screen-printed), repurposed crazy quilt, duvet, 80 x 80cm
A Crowd of Nothing (2019), collage from repurposed fashion engraving, pencil, card, glue 20 x 26cm
Feed Me (2019 or 2020), earthenware with honey glaze 15 x 8 x 4cm
Comforter (2024), working drawings: monotypes in oil based litho ink on newsprint, 54 x 48cm x six works
Costumes & Props for Chores (2024), fleece on wood, staples, elastic, string, screen printed grocer’s bags, shopping lists on repurposed paper. (Chores was an ensemble live art piece which was performed on Thursday 12th September in the Pulp Room.)
Fork, Fuck, Boob, Food (2024), screenprint on T-shirt, size large