Stanley Picker Gallery is pleased to be hosting Just let’s be Steam (A Waterpark for Hveragerði), an exhibition by Nick White, showcasing work and ideas started on a recent residency in South Iceland in collaboration with the town of Hveragerði and the Art Museum Listasafn Árnesinga.
Inspired by the town of Hveragerði known for its geothermal activity and his interest in the fine line between abstract and figurative, imaginary and real, Nick set up two studios to work in during his residency. One in Hall 4 of the Listasafn Árnesinga art museum, where during the day he created an improvised and imaginary abstract waterpark for the town out of found paper and collage, whilst talking to the locals about what they would like to see in such a space. The second studio was set up in Varmhlíð, a small house located next to the river Varmá, where during the early mornings and evenings Nick spent his time drawing, speculating on what was happening below the surface of the town and where indeed the steam was coming from.
The exhibition at the Stanley Picker Gallery will share these large-scale drawings and collages, plus other explorations of above and below the ground, imaginary and real, abstract and figurative.
Nick White is an Artist, Illustrator and Senior Lecturer on the Illustration Animation BA at Kingston School of art. Nick’s practice and research is concerned with line, shape, and form. Play, and the rules or limitations connected to play, are key to his work. Play as a way of exploring how the repetition of shapes and forms change, morph and evolve with the different media used. Play to explore humour and character, text and image.
Nick says, ‘My work manifests itself through multiple outputs due to my ever-decreasing attention span, these include – painting, collage, ceramics, drawing, print, books, self-published zines and occasionally songs to name a few.’