Andrew Lim & Lee Machell
Variable
5 May - 2 June 2012
Variable presents a new series of works by Manchester-based artists Andrew Lim and Lee Machell. In Variable, sculpture and 2-D works unite to punctuate the space with works that appear both on the walls and floor of the space, as well as on a lone plinth that supports Handle (2012), a sculpture by Lee Machell in which two disparate paint tub handles interlock to form a continuous loop.
Conventional materials constitute both artists’ works in Variable, such as Lim’s use of items of stationery in works such as Enable Ripple Cusp (2012) and Crave Here Fills (2011). Machell’s cerebral appropriation of mass-produced objects within a sculptural practice that incorporates drawing and installation places emphasis on the playful nuances that unite each of the artist’s works in Variable. Playfulness is a central component to Lim’s practice that comprises sculptural installations and interventions such as Crave Here Fills, a work that transcends its components’ original function.
Both artists’ works in Variable adopt the characteristics of another medium; that is, Machell’s sculpture Handle acts as an extended drawing as its structure as a linear curve assumes the contour of an infinite line albeit in 3-D space; Lim’s Pepper Slap Arc (2012) also disavows its condition as a series of paper sheets that interconnect via the use of paperclips; instead, Pepper Slap Arc affirms its status as an extended form, as it surpasses the limitations of its medium to emulate the devices specific to drawing such as line and shadow.
Banal objects comprise the lexicon of Machell’s series of sculptural works on paper that employ matches as their medium. Reel #2 (2012) is the result of the artist’s placement of matches around the perimeter of a reel-to-reel tape; the subsequent burst of sparks when the matches are set alight creates an almost photographic imprint of the object on paper, the matches’ burnt residuum a relic to an unpredictable process.
Andrew Lim studied at Manchester Metropolitan University where he received his BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture in 2007. Recent exhibitions include Space Exchange (2011), Aid & Abet, Cambridge; On Measuring Uncertainty (2011), Castlefield Gallery, Manchester; and First Step (2009), Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester. Lee Machell studied at the University of Salford where he received his BA (Hons) Visual Arts in 2005. Recent exhibitions include Peering Sideways (2011), Project Space Leeds, Leeds; Drawings & Matches (2011), Untitled Gallery, Manchester; and The Manchester Contemporary (Untitled Gallery) in 2011.
www.andrew-lim.net | www.leemachell.co.uk
