Artist statement
Text Art
The Uncertainty Series is an ongoing body of work that mimics the ‘track changes’ function in word processing programs. This format allows Charnock to reveal the doubts she experiences during her art-making – giving solid form to meandering and often contradictory thoughts. An installation at Mid Pennine Gallery took the form of vinyl works spanning two walls of the gallery. According to Prof Michael Corris (2), the Uncertainty Series is:
‘the story of authority rebuked, of certainty suspended, of an internal dialogue made manifest in the world . . . In one work, viewers find the sentence: “I don’t often believe my end-result is driven by my original idea.” As they stumble through strike-throughs, lose their way and retrace their steps, a conflicting sentence emerges: “I always have a clear idea that drives my practice.” . . . We read phrases that are, so to speak, false starts. We trip over ourselves, and in so doing rehearse Charnock’s uncertainty.’
Charnock's paintings within the Uncertainty Series, like her current abstract work, reveal the process of their making. Again, they can be 'read'. As Corris points out:
‘One is not even certain that Charnock recognises any substantial difference between writing and painting, in the sense that the spectator receives these forms as forms that demand different kinds of engagement, different modes of address, Thoughtout her diverse practice, one senses a liberating disregard for such certainties.’
Michael Corris, “Rethinking Writing: Anne Charnock and the Art of Language” in Certainty Suspended, Castlefield Gallery Publications. September 2008.
Painting
In her current practice, Charnock investigates the essential characteristics of painting. She initiates her paintings with simple flick-of-the-wrist ink splashes or she drips ink from a pipette. In recent works, gravity is the main agent in the picture-making. There’s a tension between control, spontaneity and chance.
Charnock’s working method is easy to trace and the viewer becomes an active participant in unpicking her process. In other words, the viewer ‘reads’ the paintings.
These works are playful and call to mind the work of Atsuko Tanaka, Ian Davenport and David Reed. On her studio wall she has pinned a quote from Ian Davenport about his own painting:
‘big drips . . . absurd, quite stupid really . . . a journey from a dumb thing to somewhere else.’ (from Jackson Pollock Revisited, by Anna Moszynska, Contemporary Visual Arts Vol 22.
Public realm
- 2008 Vialaartist Art Takes the Streets, city centre, Valencia, Spain
Qualifications and training
- 2001 MA Fine Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
- 1999 BA Fine Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
Solo exhibitions
- 2008 Over Statements, Mid Pennine Gallery, Burnley
- 2006 Artefact, FACT, Liverpool
- 2006 Anne Charnock and Chris Clarke (parallel solos), Cornerhouse, Manchester
- 2006 Uncertainties, Art Gene, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria
- 2006 Anne Charnock, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
Group exhibitions
- 2013 Between The Lines: Exploring Language Systems, AXIS Curated Selection by Helen Hillyard, MA Curating the Art Museum, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Online
- 2011 The Title Art Prize, BLANKSPACE, Manchester
- 2010 Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London
- 2010 Universal Shipping Box, Jardin Luminoso, Projektraum Schwarz, twenty+3 Projects, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Manchester
- 2010 Paint, Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, Uxbridge
- 2009 Writing Exhibitions, Stanley Picker Gallery, 7.9 Cubic Metres, Kingston University
- 2009 FRINGEMK Painting Prize, Middleton Hall, Milton Keynes
- 2009 Not At This Address, Bury Museum and Art Gallery, Bury
- 2009 " . . . ", Galleria Omphalos, Terlizzi, Bari, Italy
- 2009 The Agency of Words, Text Festival, Bury Museum and Art Gallery
- 2009 if p then q, poster commission, Text Festival, Manchester
- 2008 SWAP–VAIHTO, Bureau Gallery & Cable Factory, Salford and Helsinki
- 2007 Rich and Strange, Flock Gallery, University of Wales., Newport
- 2007 Public Pages, Dartington College, Plymouth
- 2006 ]BracketTHIS[3, Arena Gallery, Liverpool Biennial Independents (A Foundation)
- 2006 PrintROOM, Bureau Gallery, Salford
- 2006 In Exposed Areas video screening, Kulturbunker, Cologne
- 2005 On the Shelf, Compartment initiative, Manchester
- 2005 Different Alphabets, Text Festival, Bury Art Gallery, Bury
- 2004 MAX 10 Screenings, Newlyn, Newlyn Art Gallery
- 2004 Processor, Warsaw Projects (Another Product), Manchester
- 2004 Screenings, Candid Arts Projection Room, London
- 2004 The Bigger Picture, Exchange Square Big Screen, Manchester
- 2004 Media(tion), Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, Doncaster
- 2004 Prizewinners Exhibition, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
- 2004 Typo - Writing with Style, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
- 2003 Eve of Destruction, International 3, Manchester
- 2002 Ladies Only, Liverpool Biennial (A Foundation), Liverpool
- 2002 Atoms in the Family, International 3, Manchester
- 2001 All Colours Will Agree in the Dark, Cornerhouse, Manchester
- 2000 Interim, Ove Arup Gallery, Manchester
- 2000 Blind Date 2, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn
Intervention
- 2006 Anywhereblogs, Manchester Literature Festival, Manchester
Artist talks
- 2004 Expert Gallery Talk, JODI exhibition, FACT, Liverpool
Residencies
- 2012 Joya - Art+Ecology, Cortijada Los Gázque, Andalucia, Spain
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2011 The Title Art Prize, BLANKSPACE, Manchester
- 2009 FRINGEMK 2009, Catalogue Finalist, Milton Keynes
- 2008 Arts Council England individual grant, "Certainty Suspended" publication, publisher Castlefield Gallery Publications
- 2003 Lens-based open competition (first prize), Surface Gallery, Nottingham
Educational experience - tertiary
- 2004 Visiting studio tutor ongoing, MA Art as Environment, Manchester
Publications
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Web links - article/press
Personal website
