Ashley Bickerton the 54 year old Barbados contemporary mixed media artist living in Bali who combines both photographic and painterly elements with industrial and found object assemblages, associated with the Neo-Geo movement of the 1980s has been featured by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘20 Questions for Bali-based Artist Ashley Bickerton’. Bickerton states “Basically, I had been creating models for the paintings that I was making only to be photographed then left to rot. In irony, half the people who have seen those models have liked them better than the paintings, and have pushed me to realize them as distinct objects. Many estimable folks, including Melissa Chiu and a group visiting from the Asia Society in New York, insisted I needed to realize them as artworks in and of themselves, and not just a prop in the construction of the paintings. I readily agreed, but felt they would be next to impossible to build as they were so detailed with many perishable objects attached including flowers, fruit, cigarettes, insects, and any number of unstable, rusting metals. It was not until Jasdeep Sandhu of Gajah Gallery stopped by and said "I can build these" that the dream became a real possibility. …Jasdeep told me he had recently set up the Yogya Art Lab under the helm of the legendary Richard Hungerford, and with the aid of a deeply talented team of Yogyakarta artists. I knew it would be extremely difficult, but if it was going to be done anywhere on the planet, Yogya was the place. I have to give Jasdeep the credit for great vision and certainly no shortage of guts, he saw it right away and did not hesitate. These new sculptures are quite complex materially. They are primarily in aluminum, with added hair, resin, oil paint, cement, and several other materials. With all their elaborate detailing, they are proving to be exceptionally difficult works, but hopefully with some measure of good luck…”  Inspired by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/laTGN Image source Facebook ow.ly/laTbG Not just a prop in construction of paintings (June 15 2013)

 

Ashley Bickerton the 54 year old Barbados contemporary mixed media artist living in Bali who combines both photographic and painterly elements with industrial and found object assemblages, associated with the Neo-Geo movement of the 1980s has been featured by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘20 Questions for Bali-based Artist Ashley Bickerton’. Bickerton states “Basically, I had been creating models for the paintings that I was making only to be photographed then left to rot. In irony, half the people who have seen those models have liked them better than the paintings, and have pushed me to realize them as distinct objects. Many estimable folks, including Melissa Chiu and a group visiting from the Asia Society in New York, insisted I needed to realize them as artworks in and of themselves, and not just a prop in the construction of the paintings. I readily agreed, but felt they would be next to impossible to build as they were so detailed with many perishable objects attached including flowers, fruit, cigarettes, insects, and any number of unstable, rusting metals. It was not until Jasdeep Sandhu of Gajah Gallery stopped by and said “I can build these” that the dream became a real possibility. …Jasdeep told me he had recently set up the Yogya Art Lab under the helm of the legendary Richard Hungerford, and with the aid of a deeply talented team of Yogyakarta artists. I knew it would be extremely difficult, but if it was going to be done anywhere on the planet, Yogya was the place. I have to give Jasdeep the credit for great vision and certainly no shortage of guts, he saw it right away and did not hesitate. These new sculptures are quite complex materially. They are primarily in aluminum, with added hair, resin, oil paint, cement, and several other materials. With all their elaborate detailing, they are proving to be exceptionally difficult works, but hopefully with some measure of good luck…”

 

Inspired by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/laTGN Image source Facebook ow.ly/laTbG