Just Under the Surface is a unique exhibition in a unique gallery space. This is the first exhibition by the pioneering women’s art collective, Art in Touch. It explores the aesthetic, emotional, bodily and metaphysical possibilities of an art keenly aware of the senses, especially touch. We are working directly with the remarkable atmosphere and spaces of the Crypt Gallery, a former burial site under St Pancras Church in London. Through sculpture, moving image, sound and installation, Just Under the Surface will create deeply immersive environments where multi-sensory encounters are actively encouraged.
.“The concept of the exhibition lies in integration and unification,” says film-maker Tereza Stehlíková, co-founder of Art in Touch, “of our different artistic disciplines, the exhibit itself, and the space as a whole, which acts as a literal and metaphorical container for the diverse impressions and experiences brought to it. The Crypt becomes one of our collaborators, as we seek to draw out the hidden stories from a space that is already rich with them.”
The tactile is a critical, but often overlooked, element in contemporary art practice as the means by which time, emotions and events imprint their histories and memories into objects and sites and as the way these stored impressions are retrieved by visitors’ touch
The four artists are Tereza Stehlikova, film-maker, Bonnie Kemske, ceramic artist, Anais Tondeur, textile artist, and Rosalyn Driscoll, tactile sculptor. The artists will work individually, in pairs, and collectively, creating an installation using rawhide, ceramics, film-projection and fabrics, along with subtle interventions on the walls and alcoves of the underground space. Just Under the Surface will showcase a rich new direction for contemporary art.
We are keen to actively involve the general public, especially visitors who are blind or partially sighted, as well as children, and are offering tactile workshops and guided tours through the space.
We are partnering with a scientist and a philosopher who will document people’s responses to the exhibit using complementary scientific methods. This documentation is as ground-breaking as the exhibit; by correlating quantitative biophysical data with in-depth interviews, a deeply integrated portrait of the sensory, aesthetic experience will begin to take shape. The results will be analyzed with the artists, and the findings will be disseminated through articles, conferences, presentations, workshops and future collaborations.
Just Under the Surface will be on view May 5-19, 2011 at Crypt Gallery, Euston Road, London.
