The Receivers : Simon Bedwell, 23 March - 28 April 2007, MOT, London


Some loosely connected coincidences…


In 1970 Bryan Ferry loses his job teaching ceramics at a girls school, for staging impromptu record-listening sessions.
In December 1971 Roxy Music play a try-out gig at the Friends of the Tate Gallery Xmas show in London.
In December 2006 Simon Bedwell tells Chris Hammond that he would like his work to have the decadence of an early Roxy Music album cover.
In January 2007 Bedwell shows The Furnishers at White Columns, New York. On returning to London he has a strong urge to learn ceramics.
In March 2007 Bedwell shows his latest work, The Receivers, at MOT, London

Two slightly relevant quotes…


“Are you customised or ready-made? Heavy metal trick or treat? Only seventeen/On the level trash is neat/Caught the flavour want it all/Bet you know the trash I mean. Row your features into magazines/Slips are lower trash is in…” Trash (Bryan Ferry 1979).


“Bedwell’s installation juxtaposes thrift store furniture and ornaments, an overhead-projected image, détourned posters, and monochromatic and abstract paintings (that often take the form of modular temporary screens.) In his works Bedwell often collides conflicting aesthetics and visual languages, which variously include soft-porn imagery, the popular gothic (often in the form of horror movie posters), institutional and bureaucratic architecture(s), advertising, modernist painting, and sardonic sloganeering. Seen together, Bedwell’s interventions establish a complex narrative that both engages with and confuses contemporary political and social mores. With a deft humor his work both conflates and disrupts issues of class, race, sexual politics and art.” White Columns press release, (M. Higgs 2007)

In December 2006 Simon Bedwell tells Chris Hammond that he would like his work to have the decadence of an early Roxy Music album cover.
In January 2007 Bedwell shows The Furnishers at White Columns, New York. On returning to London he has a strong urge to learn ceramics.
In March 2007 Bedwell shows his latest work, The Receivers, at MOT, London.




Images L-R from top:


Untitled (Floor screen) 2007, acrylic on canvas, ply,steel, MOTSB-2007-002 Incorporating:The Receivers(Advert 2) 2007, spraypaint on found
poster MOTSB-2007-003

Origin 1, 2007, painted plywood construction, repaired ceramic. MOTSB-2007-005

Receiver, 2007 Ceramic, table, 2007. MOTSB-2007-001

Untitled, 2007, Acrylic on canvas, OHP projector, chair,vase.MOTSB-2007-009

Still life with Monochrome, 2007 Curtain, lamp, display case, VS videos, acrylic on linen.MOTSB-2007-008