Discover our Platform Projects at Battersea!

Platform Projects are back! And this time, we’ve hand-picked a whole host of captivating, contemporary artworks – from ethereal paper sculptures, to thought provoking digital pieces – that will interrogate topical issues, spark discussion and hopefully challenge your perceptions of installation art. Prepare to be inspired by art that will leave an impression! Read on for a rundown of what the innovative Platform Project artists have in store for you at this year’s Spring Collection.

Lisa Traxler

First up, artist Lisa Traxler combines painting, 3D forms and collage to create stunning ‘Paperscapes’, that appear to swoop and soar, as if in flight. Her Platform Project installation, ‘TIME CHAMBER…you can hear the birds sing,’ joins together 1,292 A4 laser copied images; each machine stitched to its neighbour, to represent thought processes and personal memories, tethered in place before they disappear from recollection.

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy’s bold, ‘Belonging’ installation, originally commissioned for the 2012 Liverpool Biennial, saw 205 brightly coloured birds adorn the exterior and interior of the Walker Gallery. Anthropomorphised, the pigeons symbolize any group that struggle to find a sense of place whether that be an intellectual or a physical/geographical homeland. Echoing this concept, his ‘Together’ installation for Platform Projects evokes questions about ownership and feelings of being accepted or marginalised.

Patrick has kindly created a ‘Golden’ limited edition especially for the Affordable Art Fair. This beautiful Pigeon will be available to purchase from the Info Desk – catch it whilst you can!

Jonathan Alexander Hillson

You may remember Jonathan from our Recent Graduates’ Exhibition at Battersea’s Autumn Collection, back in 2010. Lucky for you, he’s returning and we can’t wait for you all to see his new piece! Comprised of a series of videos, each on an endless loop, ‘I am Human,’ presents variations of the human body, from all backgrounds, races, genders and sexualities, across different sized screens. Finely balanced and set up to create a nod to da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian man’
- it’s a clever contemporary twist on the works of an old master. Intended to break down the idea of segregation and prejudice, the work reminds us we are all equal, no matter what we look like, where we come from or whom we love.

Esther Rolinson and Sean Clark

Sean and Esther, both award-winning UK based artists, have teamed up for their Platform Project, ‘Flown,’ to bring you an immersive sculptural experience, constructed from a multitude of interlocking shapes, made from hand folded acrylic. Suspended with wooden rods and illuminated with LEDs, ‘Flown,’ responds to environmental changes, which trigger subtle waves of colour to flood through the structure – perfect for those who enjoy interactive art!

Zac Greening

After the death of his father, Zac began using art as a form of therapy. His inspiration comes principally from nature; from sculptural forms, created by the sun, the moon and crashing waves. Working in a wide range of media, from discarded plastic bottles to laser projections, his works often abstractly express or comment on issues such as sustainability, environmental degradation or consumption. His project, ‘Neuron,’ is reflective of our brains’ synapses firing after stimulation – much like what happens when you catch a glance of a fascinating piece of art and you experience feelings of pleasure and joy.

Sally Buchanan

Former GP turned artist, Sally Buchanan graduated with a Fine Art degree from St Martins in 2007. For the last three years, she has been working in an array of media, to make large-scale, site-specific, installations. Sally’s Platform Project, ‘The Anthropocene,’ refers to the era in which man’s activities are considered to be having a significant impact on the nature of geology. Taking the form of a series of detailed embroidered maps, the installation reflects both serious and satirical geo-political themes, subverts different mapping conventions and questions how we perceive and manipulate our planet.

Dolly Kershaw

London based sculptor and installation artist, Dolly Kershaw’s recent project ‘Flags,’ comprised of a carpet of European flags made entirely from coloured aquarium gravel, will be expanded on for Battersea Spring! Dolly’s participatory installation, ‘Migration,’ will depict the world map and all its flags, and incorporate a staggering 400kg of gravel. She invites you to walk across the map, causing the loose gravel to migrate across the world’s borders. This ongoing participatory performance is designed to encourage reflection and discussion around freedom of movement. It invites us to consider the impact and role of art and artists in the current political climate.

Chloe Manasseh

Though one of our younger artists, Chloe has been involved in her fair share of exhibitions, such as Liverpool’s, ‘Fruits of the Lûm’ exhibition in 2016. Her Platform Project titled, ‘Taking a nap, feet planted, against a cool wall,’ will serve as a reference to ideas of displacement in the natural landscape. Treating the installation platform as a white canvas, the pieces, whilst based on natural painted forms will suggest human gestures and scale.

If we’ve caught your eye or piqued your curiosity with any of our Platform Projects, purchase your tickets to the Affordable Art Fair Battersea Spring Collection here »

Main image: 
Lisa Traxler, ‘Paperscapes 1’, Installation. 

Homepage image:
Esther Rolinson and Sean Clark, ‘Flown’, Installation.