“For Irwin, process means progress: things have to keep moving”
Opening on 8th September, Zuleika Gallery’s Autumn Exhibition: Alice Irwin – Things Have to Keep Moving… brings together an exciting new body of work by the multi-disciplinary artist: Alice Irwin (b 1994). Featuring etchings, screenprints and sculpture maquettes, this solo exhibition in the gallery’s Woodstock premises will offer a fresh insight into Irwin’s progressive artistic practice.
Speaking about the evolution of forms and ideas, Irwin explains; “My process is never static, it is an evolution of forms and ideas which often start with drawing which develop into etching and these motifs/shapes evolve further into screenprints, the visual imagery from which goes on to inform the creation of sculptures, the shadows from which might in turn suggest new directions for print-making.”
Through her work, whether in two or three dimensions, Irwin aims to convey childhood innocence whilst at the same time expressing a deeper message of human identity. At times playful, comical and naïve, her work can also reveal an underlying and unsettling subtext suggesting that not all childhood experiences are idyllic. Sighting her artistic influences, Irwin acknowledges Ciara Phillips for her print making, Keith Haring for his graphic imagery, Matisse for his shapes, Helen Marten for her use of objects and Mike Kelley and Annette Messager for the ways in which they look at childhood in a darker way.
Lizzie Collins, Director of Zuleika Gallery says “We are thrilled to be presenting Alice Irwin’s bold and distinctive work to a new audience. It seems a natural progression from our Summer exhibition which celebrated abstraction in British Art. Like her artistic forbears, Irwin has created her own visual language of storytelling through form, shape and colour and in doing so is issuing an open invitation for an emotional response.”
-ENDS-
Illustrated:
Alice Irwin, b.1994, Keep Moving, screenprint, 49.5 x 37 cm
About Alice Irwin
Alice Irwin (b 1994) is an award-winning artist working with print, etching and sculpture to reference childhood experiences and creates her own visual language. Having graduated with an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art in 2018, Irwin had a solo show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park followed by a solo show entitled People Play at the Piece Hall in 2020 as part of a large outdoor public sculpture commission and in 2021 a solo show in Tremenherre Sculpture Garden, Trinity Buoy Wharf. Her group of sculptures entitled Peeps, commissioned by Sky Arts, were exhibited in Canterbury at The Beaney (2021-22) and is on display at Trinity Buoy until December 2023. Streaky Dance, a commission is on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park until July 2024. Irwin’s solo exhibition opens at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in January until April 2024.
About Zuleika Gallery
Zuleika Gallery's focus is on Modern British and emerging contemporary art. The gallery was founded in 2015 and held premises in St James’s London before moving to Cromwell Place in 2022. In 2020, the gallery opened premises in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, now the gallery headquarters, with a regular exhibition programme. Using our extensive experience in the art market, we offer bespoke art advisory services for private or corporate collectors through Atelier Zuleika, our art consultancy arm. We enjoy placing art in the right context, whether public or private, and helping collectors making considered choices - balancing pure visual joy with stimulating ideas, while also inspiring change through art. The gallery is committed to showing art that inspires, and to making art accessible without compromise to quality, working with both the entry level collector and the connoisseur. Zuleika Gallery is a member of the Gallery Climate Coalition and is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and improving sustainably and gives artists a platform to explore the existential threat facing our planet.
Venue
Zuleika Gallery, 6 Park Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, OX20 1SP.
Opening Hours
10 – 5pm Wednesday - Saturday
By appointment
Sunday – Tuesday – please contact +44( 0)7719 060962.
Press Contact
Philippa Phelan – [email protected] +44(0) 44 7719 060962
www.zuleikagallery.com
