‘A Foot, A Mouth, A Hundred Billion Stars’ The Lapworth Geology Museum for Flatpack Festival 2023 ©Katja Ogrin
Stuart Whipps
The Formation of the Universe
To realise his works, Whipps often draws on specialist expertise from beyond his field such as horticulture and geology, leading to the acquisition of new technical skills and knowledge that he applies in various ways, often with other people. The artist’s current body of work explores extraction in both a literal and metaphorical sense and focuses on connecting stories about the places we create and inhabit with the people who work and live in them. Whipps has made work around these ideas in locations across the world, including Las Pozas, Mexico, Les Baux-de-Provence, France, and Göschenen, Switzerland. His studio residency will extend this interest in connected stories through a focus on the geology of the Black Country, an area in the West Midlands spanning Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton that was designated a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2020. The area’s geology spans 428 million years and is well known for its exceptional fossils, varied landscapes and importance as a mineral-rich place of discovery and invention at the centre of the Industrial Revolution.
During his residency, Whipps will visit geosites across the Walsall Borough, including Barr Beacon, Brownhills Mining Heritage Monument, Hay Head Wood LNR and Walsall Arboretum, gathering material to bring back to the studio, including research about the history of fossil collecting in the area and anecdotal material from the people and communities who use the sites today. This fieldwork will lead to the creation of new analogue and digital film and photographic works that connect stories, places and materials in the Black Country.
Stuart Whipps is an artist who is based in Birmingham, UK. He has exhibited across the UK and internationally and is the recipient of several awards. His work is represented in public collections including The New Art Gallery Walsall. Selected solo exhibitions include Isle Of Slingers, Spike Island 2016, Bristol; Photo Colour Services, Ithuba Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa; Birth Springs, Death Falls, Flat Time House, London, both 2013; Why Contribute to The Spread of Ugliness?, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 2011; New Wooabbeleri, Focal Point Gallery, Southend-On-Sea, 2010. Selected group exhibitions include Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, Irish Architecture Archive, Dublin; British Art Show 8, UK, 2015 – 2017. Reference Works: Guangzhou, Guanghzhou, China, 2014; Relatively Absolute, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire, 2013.
Events:
Saturday 16 May, 2 – 3pm
Join Stuart as he introduces the photographs, films and installations leading to his residency work about the geology of the Black Country.
Saturday 4 July, 11.30 – 12.30
Join Stuart for a closing performance presentation combining analogue and digital projections with objects made over the course of his residency that connect stories, places and materials in the Black Country.
Events are free, please book via Eventbrite.