Cipher Catalogue

8/11/2019 Cipher Catalogue

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R I C H A R D N O T T

The at t i tude that nature is chaotic and that the

ar t is t puts order into i t i s a very absurd point

of v iew. Al l that we can hope for is to put some

order into ourselves.

Wil l em de Ko oning


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Introduct ion

Cipher is the la test solo exhibit ion by Richard

Nott . The t i t le is an intr iguing indicator , as i t i s

c lear when speak ing with Nott about his recent

wo rk and hi s oeuvre in genera l that any emot ive

meaning or reasoning within these matter pa int ings is

not denied but remains coded and elusive even to him. A

mystery that keeps the whee ls in mot ion.

When Nott speaks of the wo rk, he speaks of i t sform, i t s tor turous and chaot ic construct ion, the

e lus ive qual i ty that has to happen , and do so

wi thout shor tcut. His descrip tion of much of the

process makes i t c lear that his role is as conduit ,

there is no c lear method; the matter is affected by

i ts own part icular and pecul iar c ircumstances by

pour ing, burning, scraping and pee l ing . His control

over i t a t t imes is l imited . When Rene Magr i t te t i t led

his pa int ing Cec i nest pas une pipe ( This is not

a pipe ) he i l lust rated pa int ings potent ia l to create

i l lus ion. Nott s pa int ings are not i l lus ionary , the

history of the surface is one that is rea l , and has to

be bui l t . These pa int ings are objects tableaus of

their own history.

Nott or ig ina l ly t ra ined in sculpture and he often

talks about the work in sculptural terms. Given it s

phys ica l i ty i t should come as no surpr ise . But these

are pa int ings . When he ta lks of the v i ta l aspect of

the s t ructure of the work , a d if ference between the

pract ices occurs to me. In sculpture the s t ructure

for a piece of work l i tera l ly enables i t to s tand.

Wi thout i t the p iece wo u ld f a l l . In pa int ing

such a dev ice does not have the same tangible

necess i ty - so why to Nott does i t fee l so imperat ive?

It is through the de l iberated st ructura l mark that

is often v iolent ly and obsess ive ly inc ised in to the

surface of the mater ia l that the ar t is t makes his

emphat ic appearance . The control to even out the

confusion perhaps. Mans ordered existence withinthe chaos of nature is fe l t . A scar is made .

Mark Rothco once remarked Art is an anecdote of

the spir i t , and the only means of making concrete

the purpose of i t s var ied quickness and st i l lness .

Nott is an ar t is t a t the centre of the confus ion

of making, i t i s ar t because of the ar t is ts need to

intervene , to spontaneously but asser t ive ly make

his presence fe l t , and to leave a mark . I t is this

st ructura l intervent ion that these pa int in gs , indeed,

stand upon.

Through these in tr icate, entropic panel s one can

contemplate the ephemera l , the e lementa l , the

env i ronmenta l , the phys ica l and pe rhaps the

spir i tua l but a lso behold mans fundamenta l need

to be present and to seek to ga in order . Our

disconnect ion with that which lays beyond our

control does not surpress our at tempts to enforce

our presence .

Jo seph Clarke , 2010


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Inscript ion I mixed media on b lock panel 153 x 153 cm


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Inscript ion II mixed media on b lock panel 153 x 153 cm

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Orig in I mixed media on b lock panel 100 x 100 cm

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Orig in II mixed media on b lock panel 100 x 100 cm

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Orig in III mixed media on b lock panel 100 x 100 cm

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Orig in IV mixed media on b lock panel 100 x 100 cm

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Orig in III mixed media on b lock panel 100 x 100 cm

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Orig in V mixed media on b lock panel 100 x 100 cm


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Chapters I mixed media on b lock panel 46 x 46 cm


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Chapters II mixed media on b lock panel 46 x 46 cm


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Chapters III mixed media on b lock panel 46 x 46 cm

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Chapters IV mixed media on b lock panel 46 x 46 cm

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Chapters V mixed media on b lock panel 46 x 46 cm

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Chapters VI mixed media on b lock panel 46 x 46 cm

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Elements I mixed media on f loated panel 62 x 62 cm

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Elements II mixed media on f loated panel 62 x 62 cm

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Elements III mixed media on f loated panel 62 x 62 cm

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Elements IV mixed media on f loated panel 62 x 62 cm

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Elements V mixed media on f loated panel 62 x 62 cm

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Network III mixed media on f loated panel 94 x 94 cm

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Network I mixed media on f loated panel 94 x 94 cm

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Network II mixed media on f loated panel 94 x 94 cm

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Edit ions I mixed media on b lock panel 91 x 91 cm

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Edit ions II mixed media on b lock panel 91 x 91 cm

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Edit ions III mixed media on b lock panel 91 x 91 cm

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Empire mixed media on b lock panel 153 x 153 cm

Richard Nott

Selected CV


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Chronology

1983 - 85 B.A (Hons) Fine Art, Lancashire Polytechnic

1985 Assistant to Andy Goldsworthy

1987 - 89 MA Fine Arts, Reading University

Solo Exhibitions

2010 Cipher, Millennium, St. Ives, Cornwall

2008 Richard Nott, New Millennium Gallery, St. Ives

2006 Richard Nott, Dean Clough, Halifax, Yorkshire

2005 Platform, OneOTwo Gallery, London

2003 New Paintings, New Millennium Gallery, St. Ives

2001 Transition, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall

Selected Mixed Exhibitions

2010 London Art Fair, Islington, London

2009 Mixed Winter Exhibiiton, Millennium, St. Ives

London Art Fair, Islington, London

2007 Art Now Cornwall, Tate Gallery, St. Ives

The St Ives School, Howard Gardens Gallery, Cardiff

2002 Constructed, Newlyn Art Gallery

2001 Richard Nott, Sax Impey & Ged Quinn, Fermyn Woods Contemporary Art

2000 British Art Fair, London

1998 Common Ground, Richard Nott & Sax Impey, Book Gallery, St. Ives

1997 Landmarks, Richard Nott, Sax Impey & Carole McDowall, Cafe Gallery, London

1996 Drawing Towards the end of the Century, Newlyn Art Gallery

1994 Richard Nott & Philip Smith, Alternative Art Gallery, London

New Art in the South West, Eight Selected Artists, Spacex Gallery, Exeter

Awards

1994 Southwest Arts, Visual Arts and Photography Award

Residencies

1999 12th International Weeks of Painting, Keleia Foundation, Slovenia

Publications

2010 Cipher, Millennium, St. Ives

2008 Richard Nott, New Millennium Gallery

2007 Art Now Cornwall, Tate Publications

The St Ives School 1997 - 20072003 New Paintings, New Millennium Gallery

2002 ARTNSA, NSA Publications

1999 Telekomovi Mednarodni Slikarski Tedni, Exhibition Catalogue

1996 Drawing Towards the end of the Century, NSA Publications

All work in this exhibition 2008 - 2010


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Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition Cipher by Richard Nott

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or

by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers


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by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers

Photography by Graham Gaunt (www.grahamgaunt.com)

Portrait taken from a photograph by Rosie Hallam (www.rosiehallam.com)

Printed by St Austell Printing Company (www.sapc.co.uk)

ISBN 978-1-905772-38-4

S t r e e t - a n - P o l

S t . I v e s

C o r n w a l l0 1 7 3 6 7 9 3 1 2 1

m a i l @ m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y . c o . u k

w w w . m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y . c o . u k

M I L L E N N I U M

Documents

Cipher Catalogue