Concepts The Artwork of Tony Charles It is customary to look at domesticity and industrialism in terms of a collision, whether between masculine and feminine, soft and hard, or the personal and the social. Taking these ideas into account, I prefer to locate the work of Tony Charles not only in the industrial and postindustrial discourse, but also in the history of modernist steel sculpture, which itself
Concepts The Artwork of Tony Charles It is customary to look at domesticity and industrialism in terms of a collision, whether between masculine and feminine, soft and hard, or the personal and the social. Taking these ideas into account, I prefer to locate the work of Tony Charles not only in the industrial and postindustrial discourse, but also in the history of modernist steel sculpture, which itself has engaged with industry in both critical and celebratory ways: I am thinking of Tony Smith, Mark Di Suvero, Linda Benglis, and Anthony Caro. Charles’ work both challenges and contributes to the history of steel sculpture. Using the inherent pliability of steel wool, he makes installations of steel and about steel, specifically the British steel industry in which he grew up and labored as a young man in the North East of England. The work is an answer to the heroic and monumental pieces of the minimalist era recalling the soft and pendulous ropes and nets of Eva Hesse and Yayoi Kusama or the curtain like wrappings of Christo. Some of his installations, such as ‘Underlined’ have functioned specifically as memorials to steelworkers killed in industrial accidents, with the portraits of the men appearing on steel wool sheets, oxidized with vinegar. Rather than juxtaposing the labor of men to the labor of women, the heroic and the elegiac, the work asks: Is there really such a big difference between the two? Anetta Kapon is an artist and professor of graduate studies based in California. February 20th, 2007 Career path Main qualifications include BA Hons and an MA in Fine Art. a self-employed artist with experience in lecturing and artist talks. a director of a studio group and main activities include exhibiting and engaging in residences.
Solo Shows
2014 Dressed to Kill: Spazio Comel, Rome, Italy
2014 Abrasive Action: Untitled Gallery Manchester
2009 Vestiges III: Saltburn Art Gallery
2007 Vestiges I & II: Shaddon Mill, Carlisle
2007 Camac: Marnay sur Seine, France
2006 Approaches. Billingham Art Gallery, Tees Valley
2005 Drawing in Space: Psyche Department store, Middlesbriugh
2005 Underlined: Arc. Stockton-on-Tees
2003 The Contemporary Room: Preston Hall
1999 Conformed: Flavell Art Centre, Thornaby
1999 Reconstruction: A.I.M. Gallery, Middlesbrough
Group Shows
2017 Show Us Your Process, House of Saint Barnabas, Soho, London
2015 Stable: Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough
2015-16 Localism: mima, Middlesbrough
2015 NORTH: Warrington Arts Festival, Warrington
2013 Keeping in Touch, Artrom Network, Rome, Italy
2013 The Tip of the Iceberg, The Contemporary Art Society, London
2013 North South Divine, WW Gallery London.
2013 North South Divine, Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough.
2013 L'ESPRESSIVITA DELLA ALUMINIO, Spazio Comel per L'Arte Contemporanea, Latina, Italy
2013 STATION TO STATION, SCOPE Art Fair, New York. USA
2012 PAINTING by OBJECT, Platform A in dialogue with the mima collection. Tony Charles & Edmund de Waal. Platform A Gallery,Middlesbrough
2011 FUZE Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough
2011 AFTERNOON TEA, WW Gallery at the 54th Venice Bienalle, Venice, Italy
2011 ONE NIGHT STAND, Thistle Hotel, Middlesbrough
2011 REMADE AND READYMADE, April The Constantine Gallery, Middlesbrough
2011 DANDER, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
2010 murmurART: an introduction: 20 Hoxton Square, London
2009 STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES: Python Gallery, Middlesbrough
2008 LEARNING TO LOVE YOU MORE: CNE, Middlesbrough
2007 FRED: Art Invasion Cumbria
2007 Bob and Roberta Smith Art Market: mima, Middlesbrough
2007 FOLD, Design Centre North.. Barnsley.
2006 FOLD, Hub art centre. Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
2004 RESPONSE. Middlesbrough Art Gallery
2004 HOME IDEAL EXHIBITION. Hotbath Gallery. Bath
2003 Arc. Stockton-on-Tees
2002 In(ter)ventions. Islington, London
2002 Circus of Distortions. Group exhibition, Green Dragon Museum, Stockton-on-Tees
2002 Lloyds TSB. Newcastle
2001 Art Means Business. Centre North East, Corporation Rd, Middlesbrough
2001 M&S Headquarters. Baker Street, London
2001 Hindsight. Preston Hall Museum, Tees Valley
2001 Glimpse. Stockton Visual Arts Festival, Tees Valley
2000 Platform. Billingham Art Gallery, Tees Valley
2000 Precedence. Artists Selected by BALTIC. The Discovery Museum, Newcastle
Awards
2013 Winner of the Premio Comel Award. Rome
Residencies
2006-07 Camac Residency. Paris
2003 Bolwickarts Residency. Norfolk
2003 Preston Hall Residency. Preston Hall Museum, Stockton-on-Tees
Publications
2013 Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists Re-invigorate The Still Life Tradition. Dr. Michael Petry, Thames & Hudson
Latest Reviews
http://www.corridor8.co.uk/online/review-tony-charles-abrasive-action-untitled-gallery-manchester/
http://www.artromnetwork.com/Slow_art/sa_tony_charles.htm
http://www.intopic.it/articolo/179470/
