GALLERY TRIP: The Factory Project
A gallery trip was organised for the UCA MA Fine Art Students last week by course leader, Andrea Gregson. Since beginning the course in September last year this was the first opportunity to go in reality rather than in a virtual capacity. We visited 2 very large institutions, the second on the agenda was the Tate Modern where we viewed an extensive range of work on show in the free galleries. But first we made our way across London to a disused factory near London City Airport called The Factory Project. This is a new initiative by This is Projekt to support emerging and mid career artists and curators. Open from the 9 October 2021 to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, it is an enormous space spanning 67,640 sq ft, hosting 10 curatorial partners and more than 110 artists.
“We want to inspire local young people by connecting them directly with artists, and to bring something interesting, enjoyable and welcoming to people living in one of London's most underfunded boroughs”
Eric Thorpe
One of the highlights of our visit was an impromptu introduction by Rosalind Davis into some of the curatorial processes of her exhibition ‘Trace Elements 1971’. She talked about the history and prior use of the factory and the way this fed into the themes and decisions relating to choices of work and placement.
Andrea V Wright, Freedom of Dissociation (2021), accreted latex and pigment, 170 x 190 cm
The work I was most fascinated by was a layered hanging piece of latex called Freedom of Dissociation. Made on site as a direct imprint of the walls of the factory, Andrea Wright cast marks and indentations through a slow and repetitive process. Colours permeate the latex and replicate remaining paint. Hanging away from the wall it seems to become removed but reflective, alone but connected. The organic nature of the work and the process of making over time relates to the fabric of the building and the significance of historical mark making. Made on site during the installation of the show, Rosalind Davis remarked on how it was to watch the piece unfold. It would seem that Freedom of Dissociation in turn became part of the fabric of the building.
“Who built these walls and has anyone been in such intimate contact with this surface but me since then? “ Andrea Wright