I’m delighted to be exhibiting in ‘Air: Visualising the Invisible in British Art 1768-2017’ from June 16 to September 3 at The Royal West of England Academy in Bristol.

Debris chasing Orion, 2017

This major exhibition of historic and contemporary art traces the tradition in British art of finding inspiration in the air around us and skies above us.

Air explores how our interest in air and the sky has affected the work of British artists stretching across four centuries, encompassing representations of breath, the effects of the wind, and flying creatures (both real and imaginary). The exhibition includes loan works by JMW Turner RA, John Constable RA, Eric Ravilious, Christopher Nevinson ARA, Sir John Everett Millais PRA, Samuel Palmer, Paul Nash and Dora Carrington, alongside work from leading – and exciting emerging – contemporary artists including; Liz Butler, Annie Cattrell, Mat Chivers, Peter Ford RWA, Freya Gabie, Neville Gabie, Dryden Goodwin, Polly Gould, Jemma Grundon, Luke Jerram, Janet Haigh, Stephen Jacobson RWA, Helen Jones, Janette Kerr PPRWA, Jessica Lloyd Jones, Ian MacKeever RA, Bridget McCrum RWA, Mariele Neudecker, David Pelham, Peter Randall-Page RA RWA, Berndnaut Smilde, Kate Williams and Alex J Wood.

Starting in the late eighteenth century Air charts the public’s fascination with experiments with air (including the development of air balloons), before progressing on to the industrial revolution, which introduced the concept of air pollution. The nineteenth century embraces intensive studies of clouds (newly classified by meteorologists), whilst the twentieth century encapsulates our wartime pre-occupation with aeroplanes and the intriguing trails they left upon the skyscape. Later works consider the physical possibilities of flight which shifted our perceptions of the landscape as aerial photography expanded our view of the earth from above.

Contemporary work introduces new environmental issues, making reference to climate change and air-borne disease, in addition to exploring air as an integral component to the process of making. Artists consider the relationship between art and science, combining painting, photography, sculpture, installation and film, to demonstrate how air is everywhere: essential to all our lives.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a beautifully illustrated publication, including explorative essays, artist texts and images, published by Sansom and Co. available to purchase at the RWA RRP £20.

An accompanying Symposium Breath, Flight and Atmosphere: The Theme of Air in British Culture organised with Oxford Brookes University will take place on 26 June 2017 at the RWA.

Exhibition concept by Stephen Jacobson RWA and co-curated by Christiana Payne, Stephen Jacobson RWA and Gemma Brace.

Air is sponsored by Meade King Solicitors and supported by Royal Commission for the exhibition 1841. The educational workshops have been supported by My Future My Choice, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Bristol Airport

http://www.rwa.org.uk/whats-on/air-visualising-invisible-british-art-1768-2017

Photos of the exhibition are below, courtesy of Alice Hendy.

Discovery

Jumbo

The Rocket Garden,
Acrylic on canvas, 20 × 30 cm, 2017

On show at Wall Space Gallery in “That Blitz Mentality” at 607 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. The exhibition is open daily until Saturday 29 April at the times below:

Monday to Thursday 11 am – 6pm, Friday & Saturday 11am – 8pm, Sunday 11am – 5pm and by appointment.

‘Celestial’ by Alex Wood is a sculpture where at first you don’t know what to expect.  My initial thoughts of the venue comprising a complex of office spaces albeit it very pleasant might limit the imagination. This was certainly not the case with ‘Celestial’ which literally causes the spirits to soar.

I particularly admire the organic quality which is akin to a crumpled Autumn leaf in delicacy but has the fluidity the beautiful bronze patina offers as it rises from the plinth skywards. It works so well in the space because of the relative nearness of the buildings which acts as a backdrop but in observing ‘Celestial’ the eye is drawn along and up into the sky above: perfect.

I would think the office workers nearby benefit greatly from munching on their sandwiches within sight of this lovely uplifting work as well as the public passing through. No doubt visitors to the offices are taken aback by the grace and energy ‘Celestial’ exudes. The flowers have grown around its base and the passages of the day simply caress and shape its colours rather like watching clouds flow across a mountain range.

Elizabeth Grant BA (Hons), MSc
Creative Intelligence Consultant & Trustee Director at The Foundation for Essex Arts Ltd

Debris chasing Orion
Metal, Humbrol enamel, wire, card and brass,
45 × 35 × 26 cm,
2017

Debris chasing Orion, 2017

Detail of: Debris chasing Orion, 2017

Every cloud has a silver lining,
Pewter and readymade airplane,
20 × 18 × 16 cm,
2017

Every cloud has a silver lining

Every cloud has a silver lining

“Echostar Saturn V, Plumes”,
Patinated bronze,
39H x 32W x 25D CM, 2017

Echostar Saturn V, Plumes

Echostar Saturn V, Plumes

Echostar Saturn V, Plumes

I recently exhibited at Pulse Art Fair in Miami with New Art Projects in a Conversations booth with Hedley Roberts.   Below are some installation shots of the booth.

Rocket! – SPACE SERIES #7, Watercolour, 29.5 x 21cm, 2016, Private Collection

Rocket! – SPACE SERIES #7, Watercolour, 29.5 x 21cm, 2016, Private Collection

Hadley Roberts work in the Conversations booth

SPACE SERIES #40

The Tower, Patinated bronze, 2016

I’m excited to have been selected for the Young Contemporary Talent exhibition curated by The Ingram Collection, which opens on Wednesday 16 November at The Cello Factory (35 Cornwall Road, Waterloo. London SE1 8TJ). #yctprize2016 #sculpture #bronze #london

International Space Station (Tiangong) Patinated verdigris bronze, 22W X 34H X 18D CM Photograph above courtesy John-Paul Bland (www.jpbland.co.uk).

Internationals Space Station, Patinated bronze, 2014 Photograph courtesy, Simon Jacobs © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London

Press Release
Inception is a term often referred to as the beginning. This group exhibition marks the inception of an artistic and cultural exchange, which is a new initiative to promote emerging and mid-career contemporary artists from Britain and China. The curator has an interesting outlook on the complexity of the global environment. The current time presents ample opportunity to explore in the creative and cultural industries.

Right now is the golden age of our time to explore, collaborate and have fun. Art forms an important element in our modern society. The dialogue between different cultures and artistic backgrounds can often inspire greater creative process along the way. That is the message we intend to share with the wider global community.

At this exhibtion, a selected group of contemporary artissts from China and Britain will share their artistic views with the audience.

46 GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, W1W 7QA. The nearest tube station is Oxford Circus.

Private View:
Live music by Cristian Anton and Lani Cucliciu
7.30pm on Friday 4th November

I am delighted to be exhibiting at Pulse Miami Beach, from 1-4 December 2016 with New Art Projects in a Conversations booth with Hedley Roberts.

More information can be found here on the Pulse Miami website.

The Tower
Patinated bronze, 18W X 42H X 18D CM, 2016

Tuesday 18 October – “Too Fast To Think” Book Launch at the Supreme Court UK, London

It was great exhibiting some of my sculptures at this event for the book launch of Too Fast To Think by Chris Lewis.

Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

ISS, Bronze, 2014 Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Suspension, Bronze and paper, 2015 Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Apollo 11, Bronze, 2014 Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Kinkaku Ji, Bronze, 2014 Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

Cubed, Bronze, 2014 Photographs courtesy, © Licensed to simonjacobs.com. 18.10.16 London, UK.Chris Lewis, Too Fast to Think book launch at The Supreme Court, London, UK.FREE PRESS, EDITORIAL AND PR USAGE.Photo credit: Simon Jacobs

‘The Towering Crane’, Patinated bronze, 110H X 55W X 50D CM, 2016 

The Towering Crane is a new bronze over a metre high which seemingly balances in a state of peril, it looks as if it could have been on the moon for thousands of years slowly melting into the ground. The blue, green and black patina emphasises and highlights various areas. Its scale is emphasised by the new purple patinated bronze bi-plane Jumbo. 

Jumbo,
Patinated bronze,
9 X 8 X 6 CM, 2016

Jumbo, Patinated bronze, 9W X 7H X 10D CM, 2016

Jumbo, Patinated bronze, 9W X 7H X 10D CM, 2016

Jumbo, Patinated bronze, 9W X 7H X 10D CM, 2016

‘Luna Buggy’
17.5kg patinated verdigris bronze,
48D x 30H x 29W CM
2016

Luna Buggy, Bronze, 2016

Luna Buggy

Detail, Luna Buggy

Luna Buggy

The Picton Art Prize Catalogue featuring ‘Celestial’ cast by London Bronze Casting
Catalogue designed by Everything In Between (www.e-i-b.com)

I am exhibiting in ‘96% Visible’ an exhibition which opens on Tuesday 24 May 6-8.30PM at the Menier Chocolate Factory, 53 Southwark Street.
The show then runs everyday until Saturday 28 May.

96 % Visible Invitation

Luna Buggy

Saucer

Photographs from The Picton Art Prize Unveiling, 27 April 2016 of ‘Celestial’, Patinated bronze, 250 X 200 X 120CM, 2016
Photos courtesy of Jasper Fry.
Cast at London Bronze Casting

Photo courtesy of Nick Hornby

Celestial, Patinated bronze, 2016 (Photo by Jasper Fry)

Celestial, Patinated bronze, 2016 (Photo by Jasper Fry)

Celestial, Patinated bronze, 2016 (Photo by Jasper Fry)

I am currently featured in  ‘STATE/f22’ Magazine Issue 21,  which is available now at Mayor Gallery Cork Street, Jonathan Ross Gallery 286 Earls Court Road & ART 16 at Kensington Olympia fair as well as numerous other galleries.

Enter a caption

Great being included in Londonist’s recent reviews of February’s most talked about exhibitions:

‘Secret Agents And Protests: February’s Most Talked About Art Exhibitions’,

Alex J Wood: Lift Off at New Art Projects
The first exhibition we’ve seen at this space features Alex Wood’s sculptures based around flight. There’s some fun and surreal works as a space shuttle is weighed down by a bronze parachute and a zeppelin hangs off Big Ben. Until 19 March, free.

Tabish Khan at the Londonist, (http://londonist.com/2016/02/february-s-most-talked-about-art-exhibitions)

Excited to be selected as a feature artist in the current issue (#19) of STATE/f22 Magazine.  Free in many galleries across London.  

The Tower, Patinated bronze, 42H X 18D X 18W CM, 2015

I just heard I’ve been Shortlisted for The Picton Art Prize whilst In Venice looking at the Biennale

Below are images of the Newspaper Rockets I’ve been creating installed throughout Venice.

“The Daily Sketch” Rocket, Highway to Hell, Palazzo Michiel

“The Sun Newspaper” Rocket, Alex J Wood at Palazzo Mora

“Daily Mail” Rocket by Alex J Wood at ‘Highway to Hell’ at Palazzo Michiel

‘The First Rocket’, Brass, lead and copper, 2015, at The British Pavilion, Venice.

“New York Post” Rocket, The Russian Pavilion, Venice

‘La Repubblica’ Rocket, installed in Calle Widmann, Venice, August 2015

‘The Sun’ Rocket, by Alex J Wood at San Giuseppe Di Castello, Giardini, Venice

Old Peculiar 
Lead, brass, plaster, copper, bronze powder, with patination. 2015

Moon #4
Photograph
2015

“The Plume”, Patinated verdigris bronze, 37W X 24H X 25D CM, 2015, Private collection. &
“Antares”, Patinated bronze, 11.5W X 51H X 11.5D CM, 2015.

The Glidemobile, brass and plastic, 2015 . This work was shortlisted for The Henry Moore Plinth Prize.

The Glidemobile, Bras and Plastic, 2015

‘ANTARES’
Patinated bronze
11.5W X 51H X 11.5D CM
2015

Antares
Patinated bronze
11.5W X 51H X 11.5D CM, 2015

Antares
Patinated bronze
11.5W X 51H X 11.5D CM, 2015

“The Plume”
Patinated verdigris bronze
37W X 24H X 25D CM
2015, Private collection.

The Plume

Detail of “The Plume”

The Plume

Home Bodies Exhibition

Homebodies

Artists Paul Coombs, Bex Massey and Alex Wood come together in Necole Schmitz’s first curatorial project, Home Bodies.  The exhibition reflects on the impact domestic spaces have on memory, the way one exists in these spaces as well as the impact future events have on the importance placed on these recollections.  As Freud states in The Uncanny:

Our childhood memories show us our earliest years not as they were but as they appeared at the later periods when the memories were aroused…And a number of motives, with no concern for historical accuracy, had a part in forming them, as well as in the selection of the memories themselves. (p. 322)

The artists will take this presupposition as a starting point to create works specific to the iconic Balfron Tower, examining the truth of Freud’s conjecture by contemplating how memories are formed and whether these personal mythologies and stories are underpinned by images of the domestic spaces in which they occurred.  The artists will also take into consideration Balfron’s history as part of the high rise solution to the post-war housing crisis in light of its recent transformation from a private to a public cultural space.

‘ET Phone Home’
Bronze and silvered card
2014
Private collection USA

Created whilst Artist in Residence at Camberwell College of Arts