Deborah Gardner

My work points to an experience of the physical world and architecture of matter, particularly physical phenomena whose structures have a propensity for a networkability or a potential for propagation. Often this practice involves an approach to site response and a consideration of place where aspects of proximity and distance play vital roles in the encounter. The works hover between formalism and figuration, abstraction and embodiment; the material form and physicality of process are key to their understanding.

Recent exhibitions such as the culmination of a residency at Conway Hall, London prompted nuanced understandings of a specific place,its radical history and activities and sought to locate the building very much within its immediate vicinity.  Works such as Library Hive referenced both the bee hive co-worker culture on the roof of the buidling and the collective agency within. Image blocks inserted in shelves within the Conway library explore the micro and macro worlds of a massive  landmark Marsden Rock and how this may relate to the micro/macro assemblages of the book and the library.  Another collaborative large light box work with fellow Land2 member Jane Millar was suspended outside the balcony of the Conway library and explored an inversion of interior and exterior space, exposing a point of viewing the square outside at dusk from the darkened interior. Other exhibitions, such as the Land 2 exhibition Landscape, Art and Uncertainty and the Armley Mills Artist residency examined how to spatially map a place from memories of a walk.

A pivotal work 'Yorkshire Monument' was recently exhibited at the Musee des Beaux Arts Calais as part of a two year EU funded project, reflecting on the outbreak of the first world war.  Among many issues the project considered the changing significance of the monument.  Yorkshire Monument first shown in the exhibition Re-Collect with a selection of sculptures from the Arts Council Collection addresses works, which explore how both sculpture and places can be compounds of a plurality of time, culture, industrial legacy, yet also be significant as an everyday landmark which gathers a local landscape together and operates as a navigational point.  When I consider how landscape may relate to sculpture or the other way around, I recognize the potential for a processional and dynamic encounter in both experiences.

Education

• 1989
  • Master of Fine Arts Degree, Newcastle University

Selected Exhibitions : Solo Exhibitions

• 2017
  • Interweave - Bradford Industrial Museum, Bradford. Arts Council funded commission for the Yorkshire Year of the Textile (May-November 2017); Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Centre, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds (December 2017– March 2018)
• 2011
  • Re-Collect: Sculptural Responses to ideas of Place within Collections, collaboration with Huddersfield Art Gallery and the Arts Council Collection, Huddersfield Art Gallery
• 2007
  • In Memoriam, Camelia House, Bretton Hall, Yorkshire Sculpture Park
• 2004
  • Networks, Albury Regional Art Gallery, Albury, NSW, Australia
• 2003
  • Embodiment, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
• 1999
  • The Heaving Line, Switchback Gallery, Monash University, Australia
  • Newcastle University Gallery, Newcastle, NSW,Australia
• 1998
  • Multifold/Veelvould, Blauwendael Castle, Waasmunster, Belgium
• 1994
  • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Alternative Art Galleries, Chiltern Street, London
• 1993
  • Residency Exhibition, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria
• 1992
  • Angels & Demons, DLI Museum & Art Gallery, Durham
• 1991
  • British Council Exhibition, NSW, Australia
• 1990
  • Residency exhibition, Monash University, Australia

Two person exhibitions

• 2017
  • Texture in Place - Galeria Strefa Erasmusa, Łódź, Poland
• 2015-16
  • Conway Actants - site responsive exhibition, Conway Hall, Holborn, London (D. Gardner & J. Millar)
• 2013
  • Placing the Mill - Armley Mills Industrial Museum, Leeds (D. Gardner & J. Tucker)
• 2012
  • Hidden Depths - Burslem Port, Stoke (D. Gardner & J. Iwaszko)

Three person exhibitions with That which is near group

• 2008
  • So near, so far (version I) APT Gallery, London
  • So near, so far (version II) Ebersberg Kunstverein, Ebersberg, Germany
• 2004
  • That which is near (version I) BadenWuertemburg gallery,European Union, Brussels
  • That which is near (version II) Only Atelier gallery, Argentenier Strasse, Vienna

Group exhibitions

• 2017  
  • In the Open, Sheffield Institute of Arts Gallery, Sheffield, organised through the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment and Land2
• 2016  
  • Order and Incident, Dom Literatury w Łodzi, Lodz, Poland
• 2014-15  
  • Monument, Musee des Beaux Arts  Calais, EU funded collaboration with SVAC, Norwich and Fabrica, Brighton
• 2015  
  • Terrace Treasures, Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire
• 2014  
  • No Place Like Home, Huyton Gallery, Knowsley, Liverpool
• 2014
  • Saltaire Arts Festival, Bradford
• 2013  
  • Landscape, Art & Uncertainty, Southampton City Art Gallery
• 2012  
  • Close to Home, East Street Arts, Leeds
• 2012  
  • The Curious Art Trail, West Norwood Cemetery, Londonect)
• 2011  
  • European Identity, San Arenas, Spain ( August), Peglio, Urbania, Italy (October)
• 2010  
  • European identity, Inselgalerie, Berlin (October), Central Museum of textiles, Lodz, Poland (December),
  • European Sculpture: Diversity and Difference, curated through sculpture network, Nave gallery, Turin, Italy
  • Rites and rituals, St Augustine’s Church, Forest Hill, London
  • all Over the Place, Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds
• 2008  
  • All Over the Place, LAND 2 touring exhibition, UWE, Bristol
  • EdgeCentrics Williamson Tunnel Heritage Centre, Liverpool , Liverpool Independents Biennial 08
• 2007  
  • Sculpting the Surburban, Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, London
• 2006  
  • Tactual Explorations, North Light Gallery, Huddersfield
• 2005  
  • Zoo-A-Logical, Knapp Gallery, Regents Park, London
  • Grounds for Design, Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, London
  • Open Desk, Ragged School Museum, Mile End, London
• 2004  
  • Outdoor Habitats, MoDA, Middlesex University, London
  • Haunt, Sherborne House, Dorset ( part of year long Timeline project)
• 2003  
  • Summer Exhibition, Burghley House Sculpture Park, Stamford
• 2001  
  • Body Beautiful, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, UK
• 2000 
  • We’re not in Kansas Anymore, Poplar Baths, East India Dock Rd, London
  • De Sausmarez Sculpture Park, Guernsey, UK
  • British Group Show, Victor Christgasse, Vienna, Austria
• 1996  
  • Disinformation, The Athenaeum Buildings, Leeds
  • Vox humana, Galerie U Recickych, Prague
  • Galerie Luzanky, Brno
  • Vytarne Centrum Chagall, Ostrava
  • Durham Cathedral Artists in Residence, DLI Museum & Art Gallery, UK
• 1995  
  • Women’s Open Exhibition, Cartwright Hall, Bradford
• 1994  
  • 12x12, Galeries de L’Espace Sculfort, France
• 1993  
  • Durham Cathedral - Artist & Images, DLI Museum & Art Gallery, Durham, UK
  • Homebase, Cubitt Street Gallery, Kings Cross, London
• 1992  
  • Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
• 1990  
  • Summer Exhibition, Beechworth Arts Council, Australia
  • Metamorphosis, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury

Symposia

• 2017  
  • In the Open, Sheffield Institute of Arts, Sheffield, organised through the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment and Land2
• 2016  
  • Space and Propagation:CLub Critical Theory Night, Conway Hall Ethical Society, London
• 2015  
  • AHRC Networking Seminar: Home, Crisis and Imagination, British Library, London
• 2015
  • Curating the Campus: Public Art and British Universities, University of Leeds
• 2013
  • Uncertain Exchanges: Land2 symosium, Southampton City Art Gallery
• 2012  
  • Close to Home, Land 2 symposium, East Street Arts, Leeds
• 2011  
  • Technologies of Drawing: Sculpture Network Conference, University of Huddersfield
• 2011  
  • The Role of Collections and Arhives in Art Practice, Huddersfield Art Gallery
• 2010  
  • European Identity: Intercultural Dialogue, European Academy, Grunewald Berlin
• 2010  
  • European Sculpture: Diversity and Difference, Sculpture Network Symposium, Parco Culturale, Turin, Italy

Residencies/Commissions/Memberships

• 2017
  • Commissioned by the cultural Institute, University of Leeds to make a body of drawing for the Art Council funded Yorkshire Year of Textile
• 2015-16
  • Artist Residency, Conway Hall, Holborn, London
• 2014
  • Member, Royal Society of British Sculptors
• 2013
  • Millspace Residency, Armley Mills Industrial Museum, Leeds
• 2012
  • Factory Night Unique Commissions, Burslem Branch Canal, Stoke
• 2008
  • LAND2, University of the West of England
• 2007
  • Sculpture Network, Germany
• 2003
  • That which is near artists’ group, Leeds University
• 2001
  • Recumbent Sculpture, Centre for Sculpture, Bretton Hall (catalogue)
• 1999
  • Artist Residency, Newcastle University, Newcastle University, Australia
  • Artists Residence Programme, Can Serrat, El Bruc, Spain
  • Residency & commission, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
• 1993-5
  • Cubitt Street Artists O-operative, Kings Cross, London
• 1992
  • Durham Cathedral Residency, Durham Cathedral
• 1991
  • Charles Sturt Residency, Charles Sturt University, Australia
• 1990
  • Commission and Residency, Beechworth College, Vic, Australia
• 1990
  • Residency, School of Arts, Monash University, Australia

Publications

• 2017
  • Conway Actants, published by Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London on occasion of residency and exhibition with Jane Millar at Conway Hall. Funded by Art Council, England.
• 2011
  • Re-Collect: Sculptural Responses to Ideas of Place within Collections, published by Kirklees Council on occassion of the exhibition at Hudderfield Art Gallery, 24pp, ISBN 978-1-904450-52-8, text by Ruth Gamble,(Huddersfield Art Gallery), Lizzie Simpson (Arts Council Collection), Dr. Jeremy Turner (University of Chester), Deborah Gardner (University of Leeds).
• 2007
  • ‘So near, so far / So nahe, so fern’, published by Kunstverein Ebersberg, Galerie Alte Brennerei, Germany, 36pp ISBN 978-3-00-025044-6 and critical essay Conversations by Iain biggs, Reader at University of the West of England.
• 2006
  • Sculpture Trail at Hebden Bridge 1995-2005, ISBN 0-9553587-0-1, 978-0-9553587-0-8, published by Sculpture Trail at Hebden Bridge.
• 2005
  • That which is near, published by PRESS Public Relations Exclusive Schlick, Stuttgart, critical essay by Dominique Lamy, writer and educationalist at the Musee Royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique
  • ‘Open Desk’ Ragged School Museum, published by The Museum of the East End, London E3 4RR
  • ‘Eating Outdoors’, published by Museum of Domestic Design catalogue, ISBN 1 85924203 0, text by Claudia Wegener , University of the Arts, sound label WEED WORKS
  • Burghley House Sculpture Park, published by Burghley House, Stamford
• 2004
  • ‘Haunt’, group exhibition catalogue , foreword by Maev Kennedy, Arts and heritage correspondent , Guardian Newspaper
• 2003
  • Embodiment, 16pp, ISBN 0953 963632 with critical essay ‘Public Bodies/Intimate States’ by Rosemary Betterton, Reader, Lancaster University, published by North Lincolnshire Council
• 2001
  • Recumbence, published by The Centre for Sculpture, Bretton Hall, 22pp, ISBN 1900857316, essay ‘Deborah Gardner: Four Works’ by Dr Iain Biggs, University of the West of England.

Awards and Grants

• 2016
  • Arts Council England, Grants for Arts participating artist in Cultural and Creative Industries University of Leeds winning bid for Year of Textiles project
• 2015
  • Art Council England, Grants for Arts, collaborative Residency and exhibition with Jane Millar
• 2006
  • Exhibition Award, Huddersfield University
• 2003
  • Exhibition Award North Lincolnshire council, UK
• 2002
  • Study Leave Award Leeds University, UK
• 2000
  • London Arts Board, Millenium Festival Awards for All, Tower Hamlets Borough Council Award ( Group Exhibition) UK
  • Bretton Hall College Research Grant,UK
• 1998
  • Bretton Hall College Research Grant
• 1996
  • Yorkshire & Humberside Arts Council Award (group exhibition)
• 1994
  • Yorkshire and Humberside Arts Council Individual Award,UK
• 1992
  • Northern Arts Council Bursary ( Durham residency),UK
  • Northern Arts Council Exhibition Award
• 1991
  • Beechworth Arts Council Award, Australia
  • Northern Arts council Travel Award
  • British Council Scholarship (Australia)

Teaching Experience

• 2015
  • Erasmus Teaching Exchange, Strzemiński Academy of Art Łódź, Poland
• 2001-2016
  • Lecturer, Contemporary Art Practice, Leeds University, UK
• 1994-2000
  • Senior Lecturer, Fine Art, Sculpture Bretton Hall College, Centre for Sculpture
• 1999
  • Visiting Lecturer, Newcastle University, NSW, Latrobe University,Vic, Aus
• 1998
  • Visiting Lecturer, Waasmunster Academie, Belgium
• 1993-94
  • Visiting Lecturer, Ulster University, Wolverhampton University Bretton Hall College, University of Newcastle
• 1992-93
  • Visiting Lecturer, Sunderland University
• 1990-91
  • Visiting Lecturer, institutions in Australia, including Prahan School of Art, Melbourne, Monash University, Gippsland, Charles Sturt University, Albury

Deborah Gardner

e-mail: sculpture4@btinternet.com
websites:
www.axisweb.org
www.sherbornehouse.org.uk/
www. bbc.co.uk/leeds
So Near [a conversation] So Far (see texts, so near,so far)
www.tactual.org.uk/artists