Our Artist To Watch for September is young British artist, Jess Flood Paddock who has a solo show at Tate Britain opening on 17 September 2012. 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.