Super Natural, Islington Arts Factory, May 23rd - June 6th

The time has come. To mark the end of my residency at Islington Arts Factory, I will be showing the fruits of my labour in a show entitled Super Natural from May 23rd to June 6th. The private view is on Friday 23rd May 6-9pm. All invited; 2 Parkhurst Road, N7 0SF. Press release below and I hope to see you there.

PRESS RELEASE

Islington Arts Factory (IAF) is pleased to announce "Super Natural" by Henry Blackshaw, the first exhibition in our artist residency programme. Henry has been the IAF's artist in residence from September 2013 to May 2014.

"Super Natural" presents Henry's work on narratives surrounding ghosts, spirits and poltergeists, and their parallels with our notions of art. All of the works have been made whilst Henry has been in residence.

The world of ghosts and spectres has more in common with the nature of art than might first appear the case. Thinking about the archetypal ghost story in relation to art might help shed light, like the flicker of a lone candle, on the similarities. The story goes that a ghost, a strange representation of something not there, appears to the lone, vulnerable viewer. It will be silent or mouth a message which we cannot hear. We are pinned to the spot, rendered speechless by this rift in how we perceive the world. The encounter will always be a deeply personal one. We only see the ghosts that we want to see, they exist in the eye of the beholder, and so we can never be sure if they are real or have been cooked up by some lowlife fraudster.

It is by thinking about these stories, by substituting the ghost for an artwork, that Henry has tried to glimpse at some of the traits at the heart of an artwork. In some cases he has overlaid ghost-lore onto art in an attempt to summon a ghost on silk.

For the last four years Henry has worked on silk and his project on ghosts grew organically from his experience with his materials. “I’ve always thought that my silks have a ghostly quality to them. They move by their own accord when caught by the wind or someone walks past them. And effectively they’re just a sheet with some holes in.”

Henry has largely developed his own techniques for working on silk. The works are made with a combination of fabric dyes, fabric paints, screen printing, gutta lines, burn holes, and are steamed, stretched, washed and ironed.

Henry (b. 1979) studied fine art at Chelsea College of Art and Design as a part-time student. His first degree was in German & History from the University of Birmingham. In 2013 he was selected to show at Futuremap, the UAL's annual survey of graduate talent. You can see more of his work at www.henryblackshaw.blogspot.com. Please follow him on Twitter at @henryblackshaw.

The Islington Arts Factory was founded in 1977. It is the only multi-arts community centre in the London Borough of Islington and provides over fifty educational courses in art, dance and music for children and adult learners. Online at http://islingtonartsfactory.org/; on twitter at @IAFholloway.