Revisiting the New Aesthetic

Thursday 17 October – 19:00 – 20:30

Join us on 17 October where, in collaboration with a group of BA Painting students from Camberwell College of Arts and a selected panel of speakers, we will be ‘Revisiting the New Aesthetic’.

The phrase ‘New Aesthetic’ was coined in 2012 by artist and writer James Bridle to refer to the conditions of an increasingly saturated, always-on, visual culture of frequently unverifiable information, as well as how the effects of the virtual world on the physical world has led to highly pressured attention spans and the need for immediacy. Seven years later, art students from Camberwell College would like to discuss how and if this is impacting on contemporary art by exploring a series of questions including: Has art theory adapted to, ignored, or been beaten by the ‘New Aesthetic’? Are emerging artists seeing the influence of social media platforms as being more relevant than that of traditional art world curators? How have artists reacted to the overriding popularity of the smartphone as a viewer’s primary interface with the visual arts?

The event includes a panel of artists Jeffrey Dennis, Danny Rolph, Ian Monroe and Georgina Tyson, who will share their views about this subject followed by panel discussion; there will also be an opportunity for the audience to contribute and ask questions.

Doors open at 18:30 for an opportunity to view our current exhibition Fully Awake 5:6. Complimentary drinks will be served. 19:00 Discussion begins.Book your free ticket via Eventbrite. Please note that spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Panel:

Jeffrey Dennis is a painter, born in Colchester, who has lived and worked in London since graduating from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1980. His past paintings have contained embedded glimpses of contemporary urban life. Dennis is also a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts, London.

Danny Rolph is known for his multi-layered, abstract, colourful paintings and works on paper. He received a BA Fine Art from Winchester School of Art and MA Painting from the Royal College of Art in London. His paintings create a grammar of signs and symbols; as an artist his practice continually questions surface tension and spatial relations.Artist, writer and lecturer Ian Monroe was born in New York and currently lives and works in London. He received his BFA from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri and his MA from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2002. Monroe came to public attention in 2003 when a large-scale work from his MA show was displayed at the Saatchi Gallery. In 2004 Monroe was included in Edge of the Real, a group painting show at the Whitechapel Gallery. The solo exhibition, They Built Upon It (2005) at Haunch of Venison, London, was accompanied by the first major catalogue of Monroe’s work.

Georgina Tyson is a Liverpool born/London-based artist and writer. She graduated with an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts, London. Her practice is described as ‘performance-based data-mining’ – an indulgent exercise of intense oversharing via the internet, using digital media and her own personal experiences. Tyson’s work explores the intersections between class, sex and mental illness, advocating for and platforming marginalised people.