Kosar Contemporary is pleased to announce THE LAST STOP by Bristol-based artist Jackson Woodcock.In 2017, Woodcock came across a 13th-century ruined chapel in Chartham, Kent which was about to undergo a significant restoration. The Horton Manor Chapel was the final stop on The Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury Cathedral which has been studied by English Heritage and the Canterbury Archeological Trust for its historical importance. Here is where the name of Jackson's solo exhibition at Kosar Contemporary comes from THE LAST STOP.
During the restoration process Woodcock witnessed the chancel wall being removed to bring back to light a fresco of geometric patterned forms and emblems in ochre and black which has been hidden from Reformation times (16th-century). This discovery deeply impacted Woodcock. The artist started to build up a library of sources, photos, samples, swatches, found objects, seeking to inform his painting practice. Site-specific matter such as slate, lime and chalk have been introduced to develop a palette of resources to be investigated as painting media.
The result of Woodcock’s investigation resume in self-contained, silent, still, purely abstract painting. The artists’ unique process making from canvas to pigment to plaster impasto, results in the intention to leave his own mark in each step of the execution.Both the chapel and these paintings work as objects of meditation and journey. This journey of materials beautifully parallels the passage of the pilgrims centuries ago as the intimacy of connection, of people and materials across time. (Emma Pattihis, 2019)
During the restoration process Woodcock witnessed the chancel wall being removed to bring back to light a fresco of geometric patterned forms and emblems in ochre and black which has been hidden from Reformation times (16th-century). This discovery deeply impacted Woodcock. The artist started to build up a library of sources, photos, samples, swatches, found objects, seeking to inform his painting practice. Site-specific matter such as slate, lime and chalk have been introduced to develop a palette of resources to be investigated as painting media.
The result of Woodcock’s investigation resume in self-contained, silent, still, purely abstract painting. The artists’ unique process making from canvas to pigment to plaster impasto, results in the intention to leave his own mark in each step of the execution.Both the chapel and these paintings work as objects of meditation and journey. This journey of materials beautifully parallels the passage of the pilgrims centuries ago as the intimacy of connection, of people and materials across time. (Emma Pattihis, 2019)
Essay
By Emma Pattihis, MA, History of Art, University of Bristol
For some time now Jackson Woodcock has been producing work that brings attention to material. Large boards and canvases applied with thick plaster and strong colour. They are precisely what they look like to the viewer at that moment standing in the gallery: plaster and pigment. They are singularly self contained. Silent, still, purely abstract and immensely beautiful. Only in the last 18 months something else, more subtle has entered into the work. The paintings are now deeply referential. They no longer primarily hold us in the present, but invoke their own conception, assembly and execution. They allude to the original matter from which the paint is made, the natural feature from which it derives and the significance of that place. And it is this that brings to mind, not only materiality, but the journey of the material.
In 2017, Woodcock discovered a ruined 13th century chapel in Chartham, Kent which was about to undergo a massive restoration. The then scaffold and ivy clad Horton Manor Chapel was being dissected and studied by English Heritage and the Canterbury Archeological Trust for its historical importance as the final stop on The Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury Cathedral. Woodcock, who was able to visit the site during this process, observed and became inspired by the grit, surface and ancient architectural form of the aged limestone. When the chancel wall was being removed, something remarkable that had been hidden since the Reformation period (16th century) was unearthed. A fresco of geometric patterned forms and emblems in ochre and black. The discovery of this, in particular, impacted Woodcock. Seeing this fresco induced the feeling that comes about when we are faced with something made long ago. A distance is felt between present-viewer and past-maker and yet also, across time, there is a curious closeness. Just by the fact of being there, experiencing the same thing, there is intimacy through the nexus of the object. In this way, we look into the process by which the object has come to be, comparing its current condition with its past states. No longer a self-contained concept, it is activated, imbued with history so that its meaning is dependent on interaction with its maker and viewer. The elegant and sensitive group of works in this exhibition capture this feeling. They emerge after months of work - gathering photographs and information from the area, preparing a palette from site-specific ochre, lime, terra cotta and chalk, and working these special media in the studio to produce paintings that are redolent of their making.
Looking at Odo III, for instance, the colours of ochre, lime and bone black resonate with the fresco in the Chapel, almost as a kind of tribute. However, also evident at the surface of the work is a record of Woodcock’s creative hand. Two canvases of different sizes are positioned together as a diptych, disrupting traditional modes of presentation. This forces us to consider his choice and how it was implemented. Moreover, the coexistence of separate areas of varying textures directs attention to such techniques. A narrow and smooth area borders a larger expanse of furrowed impasto. We imagine Woodcock in his studio, his handmade traditional Restoration tools gesturing to make the marks before us today. There is no attempt to disguise authorship here. The work is overtly composed. There is no doubt that these works provoke reflection. That through indeterminate form, specific stories arise. Woodcock’s work describes a transformation of source material, from discovery to becoming a work of art. This journey of materials beautifully parallels the passage of the pilgrims centuries ago as the intimacy of connection, of people and materials across time, is truly expressed.
By Emma Pattihis, MA, History of Art, University of Bristol
For some time now Jackson Woodcock has been producing work that brings attention to material. Large boards and canvases applied with thick plaster and strong colour. They are precisely what they look like to the viewer at that moment standing in the gallery: plaster and pigment. They are singularly self contained. Silent, still, purely abstract and immensely beautiful. Only in the last 18 months something else, more subtle has entered into the work. The paintings are now deeply referential. They no longer primarily hold us in the present, but invoke their own conception, assembly and execution. They allude to the original matter from which the paint is made, the natural feature from which it derives and the significance of that place. And it is this that brings to mind, not only materiality, but the journey of the material.
In 2017, Woodcock discovered a ruined 13th century chapel in Chartham, Kent which was about to undergo a massive restoration. The then scaffold and ivy clad Horton Manor Chapel was being dissected and studied by English Heritage and the Canterbury Archeological Trust for its historical importance as the final stop on The Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury Cathedral. Woodcock, who was able to visit the site during this process, observed and became inspired by the grit, surface and ancient architectural form of the aged limestone. When the chancel wall was being removed, something remarkable that had been hidden since the Reformation period (16th century) was unearthed. A fresco of geometric patterned forms and emblems in ochre and black. The discovery of this, in particular, impacted Woodcock. Seeing this fresco induced the feeling that comes about when we are faced with something made long ago. A distance is felt between present-viewer and past-maker and yet also, across time, there is a curious closeness. Just by the fact of being there, experiencing the same thing, there is intimacy through the nexus of the object. In this way, we look into the process by which the object has come to be, comparing its current condition with its past states. No longer a self-contained concept, it is activated, imbued with history so that its meaning is dependent on interaction with its maker and viewer. The elegant and sensitive group of works in this exhibition capture this feeling. They emerge after months of work - gathering photographs and information from the area, preparing a palette from site-specific ochre, lime, terra cotta and chalk, and working these special media in the studio to produce paintings that are redolent of their making.
Looking at Odo III, for instance, the colours of ochre, lime and bone black resonate with the fresco in the Chapel, almost as a kind of tribute. However, also evident at the surface of the work is a record of Woodcock’s creative hand. Two canvases of different sizes are positioned together as a diptych, disrupting traditional modes of presentation. This forces us to consider his choice and how it was implemented. Moreover, the coexistence of separate areas of varying textures directs attention to such techniques. A narrow and smooth area borders a larger expanse of furrowed impasto. We imagine Woodcock in his studio, his handmade traditional Restoration tools gesturing to make the marks before us today. There is no attempt to disguise authorship here. The work is overtly composed. There is no doubt that these works provoke reflection. That through indeterminate form, specific stories arise. Woodcock’s work describes a transformation of source material, from discovery to becoming a work of art. This journey of materials beautifully parallels the passage of the pilgrims centuries ago as the intimacy of connection, of people and materials across time, is truly expressed.