Jess Flood Paddock’s sculptures question the actions and objects of making in such a way as to dislodge expectations attached to weight, gesture and material. Often working on a monumental scale, with light and temporary materials, some of her sculptures seem to represent an ordinary object (a raspberry, a pile of newspapers), whereas some represent ‘sculpture’ itself (public monuments, an ancient goddess, Neolithic stones), and some represent the act of making (a swoop of the hand, a crush of the fist). Her sculptures often appear simplistic, but it is an unusual and unforgiving conceptualism, combined with a serious intent and quiet wit, that cleverly pulls together a jocular array of cultural references.
Jess Flood-Paddock (born 1977, England) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include X, Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam (2012), Fantastic Voyage, Carl Freedman Gallery, London (2011), Gangsta’s Paradise, Hayward Gallery project space, London (2010) and Sacrifice, Swallow Street, London (2010). Flood-Paddock was one of the participating artists in The Forest residency, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire (2012), Bold Tendencies 5, Peckham Car Park, London (2011), Deadpan, The Royal Standard, Liverpool Biennale (2010) and Club Room, Russian Club Gallery, London (2009). Jess Flood-Paddock is represented by Carl Freedman Gallery in London and Grimm Gallery in Amsterdam.
Florian Roithmayr‘s work involves the presentation of hand-crafted, sculpted and cast homages to the production of objects, ranging from the wall tiles in a German subway station to the cave paintings of prehistoric man. He often refers to patterns of withdrawal, disinterest or internal retreat, either as motives for care and rescue or disempowerment and flight. His most recent body of work explores Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Grotto, designed by Ron Dirsmith at the height of Hefner’s fame in the 1970s.
Florian Roithmayr (born 1977, Germany) lives and works in London. He has recently had solo exhibitions at MOT International in London (2012) and Galerie Neue Alte Brücke in Frankfurt (2007) and his work is currently exhibited in the exhibition Solid On Our Source Planet at Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridgeshire. Previous presentations have include V22, London; S1 Artspace, Sheffield; Grazer Kunstverein, Graz; Galeria d’Arte Moderna, Turin; Galerija Miroslav Kraljevich, Zagreb; The Approach Gallery and Vilma Gold, New Contemporaries and Liverpool Biennial. Florian Roithmayr is represented by MOTInternational in London and Neue Alte Brücke in Frankfurt.
Image: Jess Flood-Paddock, Oyster X London Plane, 2012, jesmonite, paint, bark, 50 x 50 x 60 cm. Image courtesy the artist and Carl Freedman Gallery.