Borough Road Gallery announces Susan Sluglett as its first Artist in Residence
The Borough Road Gallery at LSBU has appointed Susan Sluglett as the Borough Road Gallery Artist in Residence 2014/15A contemporary painter whose gestural and expressive work explores narratives and characters, Susan Sluglett's three-month residency begins at Borough Road Gallery in December 2014.
Sluglett was recognised in 2013 by being awarded the prestigious Jerwood Painting Fellowship, with a related exhibition at Jerwood Visual Arts. She has also shown at Southampton City Art Gallery as part of 'From David Bomberg to Paula Rego' (2014) and at the Lion and Lamb Gallery (2014).
This is the inaugeral residency offered by the Borough Road Gallery, which is part of LSBU's multi-disciplinary School of Arts and Creative Industries and opened in June 2012 with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The gallery cares for A David Bomberg Legacy – The Sarah Rose Collection, a collection of works by David Bomberg and The Borough Group which was formed by a number of his students. Bomberg is considered one of the most significant British artists and teachers of the 20th century and taught at LSBU in the 1940s and 1950s. The Gallery uses the A David Bomberg Legacy – The Sarah Rose Collection as a resource and inspiration for a dynamic programme of exhibitions, talks, newly commissioned texts, workshops, new oral histories and a growing Digital Archive.
Sluglett returned to painting following a successful career in another field, and threw herself energetically back into her practice. This energy is translated in her work and is reflective of the spirit of Bomberg's teachings. She is also the Deputy Vice-President of The London Group, which was founded by Bomberg and other artists in 1913.
For the residency, half of the gallery will be turned into a live artist studio – regularly open to visitors, groups, LSBU staff and students – with the other half of the gallery dedicated to a display of works from the Collection selected by Sluglett and Borough Road Gallery. Together this new project is entitled Three Floors Down: In the Studio and will run from 3 December 2014 – 28 February 2015.
Susan Sluglett said: "As a painter I am inspired by the fact that the residency is a place to reactivate history, making the past present, and I see the residency as an opportunity to both excavate new stories from within the Collection and elaborate on the history of painting."
Borough Road Gallery Curator Rachel Fleming-Mulford commented: "Many of the artists in A David Bomberg Legacy – The Sarah Rose Collection would have benefited from further exposure and opportunities in their lifetimes. The Borough Road Gallery Artist Residency 2014/15 continues Bomberg's legacy by awarding the residency to a female painter at a timely moment in her career. We are delighted to welcome Susan and are excited to see the ways in which the residency will offer new perspectives and open up A David Bomberg Legacy – The Sarah Rose Collection, for broad audiences to enjoy."
Find out more about the Borough Road Gallery exhibitions