Simon Bedwell
Encyclopedia
Simon Bedwell is an artist based in London
.
He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including solo show “The Furnishers” at White Columns
in New York
, “Galleon and Other Stories” at the Saatchi Gallery
in London, “England Their England” at Laden fur Nichts in Leipzig
, “Beck's Futures
2004” at the ICA
in London and the CCA in Glasgow
, and Studio Voltaire London. He is represented by MOT in London, where he had 2 solo shows, The Receivers in 2007 and The Painter of the Hole in 2009.
Simon Bedwell spent most of his art career as a member of the London-based collective BANK
,since the group’s 2003 split becoming a successful artist in his own right. His most widely known works combine second-hand posters with carefully selected slogans produced using WordArt, stencils and spray paint. This strand of Bedwell’s practice is typical of his methods; the juxtaposition of found imagery with purpose built text creates an often funny, politically apposite, yet highly convincing brand-new object. His work functions via a critique of advertising, logoism, signs and signifiers; picking holes in means of representation favoured by the mass media to discover the limits of tolerance and relevance of ‘rebellious’ acts, and believability, within a given context.
More recently, and following the solo exhibition Gents: A Melodrama with 2 Acts at Platform, London in 2005, Bedwell's work has featured a mix of more complicated subject matter and concerns. As Matthew Higgs wrote for Bedwell press release for 2007's White Columns show, 'In his works Bedwell often collides conflicting aesthetics and visual languages, which variously include soft-porn imagery, the popular gothic (often in the form of horror movie posters), institutional and bureaucratic architecture(s), advertising, modernist painting, and sardonic sloganeering. Seen together, Bedwell’s interventions establish a complex narrative that both engages with and confuses contemporary political and social mores. With a deft humor his work both conflates and disrupts issues of class, race, sexual politics and art.'
BANK consisted of Bedwell and other artists – Dino Demosthenous, David Burrows, John Russell, Milly Thompson and Andrew Williamson – who, throughout the 1990s and up until 2003, were a consistent presence on the London art-scene. BANK regularly hosted shows in their own warehouse space which combined the work of the group with that of other, often very well known, artists in schizophrenic installations where it was often impossible to tell where one work ended and another began. The group also regularly produced art-world-baiting material in the form of satirical exhibition invitations, provocative show titles, their own tabloid newspaper ridiculing the excesses of the London scene and a campaign to improve gallery press releases that involved returning said documents to galleries with corrections to grammar and tips for improvement.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including solo show “The Furnishers” at White Columns
White Columns
White Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit space and one of its most prestigious. White Columns is known as a show case for up and coming artists....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, “Galleon and Other Stories” at the Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames and currently in Chelsea. Saatchi's collection, and...
in London, “England Their England” at Laden fur Nichts in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, “Beck's Futures
Beck's Futures
Beck's Futures was a British art prize founded by London's Institute of Contemporary Arts and sponsored by Beck's beer given to contemporary artists....
2004” at the ICA
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
in London and the CCA in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and Studio Voltaire London. He is represented by MOT in London, where he had 2 solo shows, The Receivers in 2007 and The Painter of the Hole in 2009.
Simon Bedwell spent most of his art career as a member of the London-based collective BANK
BANK (art collective)
BANK was an artists’ group active in London during the 1990s.-History and project:John Russell, Dino Demosthenous and Simon Bedwell founded the group in 1991. Dino Demosthenous left in 1992. In 1993, Russell and Bedwell were joined by Milly Thompson, David Burrows and Andrew Williamson. Burrows...
,since the group’s 2003 split becoming a successful artist in his own right. His most widely known works combine second-hand posters with carefully selected slogans produced using WordArt, stencils and spray paint. This strand of Bedwell’s practice is typical of his methods; the juxtaposition of found imagery with purpose built text creates an often funny, politically apposite, yet highly convincing brand-new object. His work functions via a critique of advertising, logoism, signs and signifiers; picking holes in means of representation favoured by the mass media to discover the limits of tolerance and relevance of ‘rebellious’ acts, and believability, within a given context.
More recently, and following the solo exhibition Gents: A Melodrama with 2 Acts at Platform, London in 2005, Bedwell's work has featured a mix of more complicated subject matter and concerns. As Matthew Higgs wrote for Bedwell press release for 2007's White Columns show, 'In his works Bedwell often collides conflicting aesthetics and visual languages, which variously include soft-porn imagery, the popular gothic (often in the form of horror movie posters), institutional and bureaucratic architecture(s), advertising, modernist painting, and sardonic sloganeering. Seen together, Bedwell’s interventions establish a complex narrative that both engages with and confuses contemporary political and social mores. With a deft humor his work both conflates and disrupts issues of class, race, sexual politics and art.'
BANK consisted of Bedwell and other artists – Dino Demosthenous, David Burrows, John Russell, Milly Thompson and Andrew Williamson – who, throughout the 1990s and up until 2003, were a consistent presence on the London art-scene. BANK regularly hosted shows in their own warehouse space which combined the work of the group with that of other, often very well known, artists in schizophrenic installations where it was often impossible to tell where one work ended and another began. The group also regularly produced art-world-baiting material in the form of satirical exhibition invitations, provocative show titles, their own tabloid newspaper ridiculing the excesses of the London scene and a campaign to improve gallery press releases that involved returning said documents to galleries with corrections to grammar and tips for improvement.