In Conversation: Magnus Quaife and Professor Andrew Hunt
Tuesday 16th June 8pm-9pm LIVE
ONLINE TALK
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About Magnus Quaife:
Magnus Quaife’s practice has been described as that of a conceptual artist interested in paint and as being connected through an approach that is akin to an archaeology of the modern and contemporary. The defining aspect of his recent work in which these concerns have been explored is a visually playful exploration of the connection between the painted mark (the frozen gesture), and the representation or equivalent of that gesture in other media or materials. An attempt to unpick the relationship between haptic, indexical mark of the painter’s presence - the sign of the artist - and its reproduced equivalent. In doing so reconsidering the relationship between ostentatious virtuosity and anonymous execution in the painted surface. It is a practice that has most often been realised in paint and collage, but that has also led to brewing, zine making and projection. This is an unpicking and questioning of the material properties of painting and the master narratives that are still drawn upon to support it.
Earlier works considered the recirculation and re-imagination of images, materials and forms in the art world and beyond, and the emergence of myths as collective cultural or political memory was often the focus. From media images of the global uprisings of 1968 to the mountains in Cezanne’s paintings and Spielberg’s films, via phone masts pretending to be trees, Walter Benjamin’s grave, or Roland Barthes hobby paintings, these diverse subjects were connected by sense that nothing is quite what it seems. Magnus Quaife has exhibited internationally and across the UK and his work is in private and public collections. Born in 1975 in Nottingham he lives and works in Greater Manchester.
About Andrew Hunt:
Andrew Hunt is a curator and writer based in London and Manchester, and is currently Professor of Fine Art and Curating at Manchester Metropolitan University. From 2008 to 2014 he was Director of Focal Point Gallery in Southend-on-Sea, where he was responsible for developing the organisation’s acclaimed exhibitions programme and publishing activities. Since the early 2000s, he has worked on intimate solo exhibitions with significant international artists such as Mike Nelson, Elizabeth Price, Tris Vonna-Michell, Kai Althoff, and Marc Camille Chaimowicz as well as designers such as Fraser Muggeridge, Jonathan Barnbrook, James Langdon, Abacke, Manuel Raeder, and Sara De Bondt on projects that range from minor printed ephemera to major publications, exhibition design and new branding for art institutions. In 2012 he was a member of the Turner Prize jury.
Recent independent projects include ‘Artists Against Homelessness: Insiders and Outliers’ for St Mungo’s (2020), 'As You Change So Do I’ a series of public art commissions for Luton, UK (2016 to 2019). He has contributed to magazines and journals such as Artforum, Art Monthly, The Burlington Magazine, Domus, frieze, Mousse Magazine, Picpus and TATE ETC., and is founding editor of the Slimvolume imprint, which to date has published editions and books by over 250 artists.
