Work in Process

Collecting and Exhibiting

PAINTING | SCULPTURE | CERAMIC | PHOTOGRAPHY

 

Artworks can be viewed by appointment in the Elisabeth Frink studio space,
Messums London
or in your home.

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John Beard (b.1943)
Hill 4, 2020

Oil on canvas
h 135 x w 155cm
(JB017)

 

“Out of this period of being stuck in the English countryside, Beard has produced a body of work which is intensely atmospheric and solitary, the landscape of fields and hills half seen, half absorbed into his imagination and then idealised into views of the snow and the mist, the wintry hills and the outlines of the distant trees along the horizon and the ploughed-up fields in diagonal lines stretched across the foreground, sometimes covered in a light dusting of snow” — Sir Charles Saumarez-Smith, 2020

 

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Sir Robin Philipson RA PPRSA FRSE RSW (1916–92)
Ho! Ho! The Hobby Horse, 1987 (triptych)

Oil on canvas
h 122 x w 366cm

Exhibited:

Robin Philipson at 70, Glasgow and Edinburgh Fine Art Society, 1986–7
Royal Academy, 1987
Robin Philipson Retrospective, Edinburgh, 1989, number 146 Literature

W Gordon Smith, Philipson, Edinburgh, 1995, illustrated pp107–110

One of the most important painters in Scotland in the late 20th Century. Works in major collections include HRH Prince of Wales, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Art, Scottish Arts Council, Aberdeen, Kirkaldy, Leeds, Middlesborough, Glasgow, Paisley, Perth, Sunderland Art Galleries. Recipient of the Legion d’Honneur, a knighthood.

 

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Rose Hilton (1931–2019)

“[Rose] makes her own way, with a lot of help from Matisse and not much from Roger, to emerge after his death as an authoritative colourist of great strength and warmth in her own right.” Hilary Spurling (Spectator, 2016)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elisabeth Frink (1930–93)
Plant Head, 1963

Bronze
h 76cm Edition of 6

Exhibited:

London, Waddington Gallleries, Elisabeth Frink, 28th November – 21st December 1963, cat. no.3 (another cast), with tour to Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York, and Landan Gallery, Los Angeles; London, Waddington Galleries, Elisabeth Frink, 30th November – 24th December 1965, cat. no.21 (another cast).

Literature:

Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture, Prints and Drawings, 1972 exh.cat Waddington Galleries I, II and III, London
Catalogue Raisonné, 1984
Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture and Drawings 1952–84, 1985 exh.cat with essay by Sarah Kent and interview with Norman Rosenthal, Royal Academy, London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Well, these, these ones in particular, these carapaces and horse head, and plant head, fish head, they’re really much more based on fossils, you know, man changing into animal, animal changing into plant, sort of evolution.”  Recording E. Frink and S Kent, 1992, excerpt British Library
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Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture and drawings, 1988 exh.cat with essay by Bryan Robertson, University of Keele
Elisabeth Frink: Sculpture and Drawings 1950–90, 1990 exh.cat with essay by Bryan Robertson, The National Museum of Woman in the Arts, Washington DC.

Annette Downing, Elisabeth Frink: Sculptures, Graphic works, Textiles, exh.cat., essays by Annette Downing, John Hubbard, Edward Lucie-Smith, Salisbury Festival and Wiltshire County Council Publication, 1997

Annette Ratuszniak, Elisabeth Frink: Catalogue Raisonne of sculpture 1947–93, 2013 p.86

Receiving official recognition, Frink was awarded a DBE in 1982, and was elected Royal Academician in 1977. Her honours also include Honorary Doctorates granted by the University of Surrey (1977), Royal College of Art (1982), Open University (1983), University of Warwick (1983), University of Cambridge (1988), University of Exeter (1988), University of Oxford (1989) and University of Keele (1989).

Elisabeth Frink (1930–93)
Medium Sitting Down Horse, 1972

Bronze with a brown patina 21.1cm
Edition 3 of 12

 

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“That they are elegant and graceful and sensual is plain to see, but what of the space around them? It is not a disinterested bystander. It has become part of the art, a contextual protagonist: an altered environment. The relationship between carved stone and landscape makes you ‘read’ each differently. This is why positioning is so important to Bridget: the surrounding physical space is part of her sculpture.” Will Gompertz, 2020, on Bridget McCrum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gregory Payce (b.1956)
Bleur, 2018

Porcelain
h 41cm

 

“Greg Payce lives in Calgary, Alberta, and was Professor of ceramic at ACAD for decades, before stepping back to concentrate purely on his work. Through the decades he has developed a superb form of trompe l’oeil that is entirely his own, in which thrown vessels, sometimes in pairs, sometimes in rows, appear to have standing figures between them. In his work, people fill the voids. In this way, his art gives us one of the most poetic and timeless visions of the relationship of people to pots. He has made for us an essay on the intimacy of ceramic to civilization.”  Paul Greenhalgh

 

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“He disregards conventional ceramic technology, and all his work is fiercely sculptural. It is therefore surprising to discover that all his pieces are built from thrown elements. The discipline of the potter’s wheel with its drive to repetition and symmetry appears remote from the dramatic, fractured nature of these complex objects.”

Tanya Harrod, author of The Last Sane Man: Michael Cardew, Modern Pots, Colonialism and the Counterculture, Yale University Press, 2012 

 

 

 

Thiébaut Chagué

Madrépore II, 2019
Wood fired stoneware
h 55 x w 56.5 x d 36cm

Madrépore, 2019
Wood fired stoneware
h 37 x w 36 x d 28cm

 

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Christie Brown (b.1946)
Black and White Katze, 2019

Ceramic
h 98 x w 31 x d 23cm

 

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“Brown’s ceramic figures awaken a primal notion in the viewer, conjuring empathy, curiosity, perhaps anxiety or fear. These figures have a life of their own. They may appear still and static, but Brown plays on generations of tall tales, years of playful childhood memories and tropes of popular culture in theatre, cinema and television to spark our demiurgical aspirations. Perhaps, when your back is turned, these figures might move, might whisper to each other, playing games when the lights are out. Brown insists they are well-behaved but even finds herself chastising them as she leaves her studio each night.”
Natalie Baerselman le Gros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura El-Tantawy (b.1980)
The Square I Remember

from the series In the Shadow of the Pyramids (2005–14) Fine Art Inkjet print
h 80 x w 120cm
Edition 2 of 5 + 2APs

 

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A peaceful and tranquil day suddenly turns violent and chaotic, it’s claustrophobic, until a new dawn rises and there is hope again.”  Laura El-Tantawy

Justin Keene (b.1989)
Philippi, Cape Town, 2019

from the series It Must Be Built From Ashes C-type print
h 65 x w 100cm
Edition 1 of 5

 

 

“From an outsider’s perspective, the project ‘It Must Be Built From Ashes’ follows some of the ‘born-free’ generation facing the struggles of growing up in South Africa today in a way that confronts the mainstream media portrayal of Mitchells Plain and the communities who live on the Cape Flats.”  Justin Keene

Justin Keene (b.1989)
Tayba, Cape Town, 2019

from the series It Must Be Built From Ashes C-type print
h 80 x w 80cm (large)
h 50 x w 50cm (medium)
Edition 1 of 5

Yan Wang Preston (b.1976)
Y61_6,000km from the river, 2013

from the series Mother River
Chromogenic print
h 112 x w 140cm
Edition 1/3 + 1 AP

 

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“I used Google Earth to identify the coordinates of sixty-three locations marking every 100 km of the river’s course. It was these sixty-three ‘Y-points’ that I set out to reach and to photograph, come what may. This method avoided most of the picturesque views or colossal concrete structures, which are frequently visited by photographers. Instead, a set of accidental and vernacular landscapes were found.”  Yan Wang Preston

 

Photography: Sylvain Deleu, Millie Pilkington, Steve Russell, Iain Kemp

Top Photo: David Spriggs, Vision II — December 2017