We chatted to a couple of the artists who are exhibiting at the baths this week, about their work.
Jef Row
Jef is a stencil artist, who’s been working in Bristol since 1997. ‘I was working the dark streets of Bristol at the same time as Banksy, but I never bumped into him, that I know of. Like a lot of people in Bristol, I do have a heartbreaking Banksy story of not buying a painting for £200 when I had the chance…’
Jef’s work is consciously political. He says he has so little time to paint (he also works as a plumber, and has seven kids…) that he can’t justify the time to do work that doesn’t having a real meaning.
Jef has two works in the exhibition. One is a stencil which is a site-specific piece for the baths, based on the ‘no heavy petting’ signs they used to have in swimming pools.
The other is a collaboration with fellow artist Andy Stott – a painting of Millennium Square in Bristol, showing slave ships and sugar-cane. This piece is their commentary on ‘Bristol’s dark past’, and the fortunes built on human misery.
You can see more of Jef’s work on his facebook page.
Liz Buckfield
Liz has a lot of work in the exhibition, including paintings, letters which she’s re-purposed, and a quirky installation which is a sculpture of two teenagers sitting in the stands. A lot of visitors do a double take when they realise the sculpture isn’t actually real people. It makes people laugh.
But it’s the re-purposed paperwork which has been getting the strongest response for visitors. One described the work as ‘incredibly brave’.
Liz has taken personal letters and paperwork – from payslips, to arrest sheets, to medical appointments – and drawn on them. The drawings, often intricate and beautiful, are her commentary on the letters themselves.
A compulsive doodler, Liz started drawing on letters she got – ‘Just the interesting ones’ – and after a while realised she had so many it was a project in the making. She thinks people respond to her work because everyone – especially in the UK – has these kind of letters and paperwork. The project is partly a critique of modern life and a commentary on bureaucracy, and partly an attempt to be unflinchingly honest in her work. “I don’t think you should hide it, just because you are personally embarrassed by it.”
You can hear Liz talking about her art below, or see more of Liz’s work on her facebook page.
Come down and see Jef and Liz’s work – and that of dozens of other great Bristol artists – for yourself before the exhibition closes this Sunday 20th May. We’re open every day, 2-9pm.
The Deep End 