PRESS RELEASE

Caught Playing    

A solo exhibition of new work by Emma Gregory

10th - 15th September 10am – 4pm, with additional late night opening on Thursday 12th September 5:30pm - 8pm  

‘Play generates ideas. All I need do is recognise it - additional meaning, the idea - when this happens’.

Emma Gregory’s first solo show in Bristol, where she lives and works, includes sculpture and prints that move somewhere between abstraction and figuration, together with photographs of the artist at play.

Gregory deals with the inner lives of women. She uses play as a tool and describes this exhibition as ‘a backstage tour of my props cupboard’. 

The associative thinking processes Gregory employs reflect a varied work life. Alongside her fine art practice she has been a scenic artist, prop-maker, heritage upholsterer. Currently working in her space at St. Anne’s House and on her kitchen table with materials appropriated from home, she has created direct lines of communication between the domestic and the studio.

The word ‘play’ also suggests theatre, and this exhibition leans towards the performative: sculptures read as props and sets whilst motifs such as the stage and proscenium curtains appear throughout.

Also on show are large photographs documenting the artist engaged in foolery with her sculptures as both costume and set. Slumped, draped or seated throughout the exhibition, these photographs sub for the artist. This juxtaposition of the documented and the real sets up a peculiar dynamic. As though the audience has arrived late and missed an opportunity to live in the moment.

Whilst the outsize puppets and cut outs evoke partial sets and well-fingered scripts, their individual forms - cones, crinolines and horns - suggest body parts. The choice of materials - 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.  In spilling out her props cupboard, Gregory is testing what is deemed to be appropriate conversation in relation to age and sex, caregiving and gender. 

Gregory’s 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).

Guided tour in the gallery space with the artist on Saturday 14th September, 12 noon.

Cibomatto Canteen will be open on site every day except Sunday, serving coffee, cakes, breakfast and lunch. For the late night opening on Thursday 12th September 5:30pm - 8pm food and drink will be available and The Bricks Bar will be serving alcoholic and soft drinks from Lost and Grounded, CounterCulture Kombucha and Bristol Cider Company. 

For more information emma.g@raynes.name. 

Accessibility to the building:

St Anne’s House has accessible parking bays, a ramp to reception, as well as an accessible toilet, baby facility area, and gender neutral toilets. 

How to find and travel to St Anne’s House 

Accessibility at St Anne’s House 

 St Anne’s House

St Anne’s Road

Brislington

Bristol, UK

BS4 4AB