6-7pm
[ADD/EMBED YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE]
Claire Louise Bennett's book Pond is written from the perspective of one woman who lives a solitary existence on the outskirts of a small coastal village.
The book focuses on daily experiences, from eating a bowl of porridge, to ruminating how the croak from a frog could be the sound of a vagina. The woman’s relationship to her surroundings becomes boundless and the everyday is extraordinary and dreamlike.
Artist Amy Steel invites the author to discuss the writing and ideas behind Pond. The talk will explore themes such as the boundless nature of sexuality and how a sensual perception towards all things may be like a connective tissue.
This will be an online event with questions from participants very welcome.
This event is as part of our current exhibition at PEER, from 17 – 30 May 2021, showcasing the work of Avril Corroon and Amy Steel. These two artists completed a yearlong studio residency at Acme’s Warton House studios in 2020 after graduating from MA courses at London-based art colleges. The exhibition marks the fifth year of partnership between PEER and Acme. This important partnership offers emerging artists a significant opportunity at a crucial point in their career to exhibit at an acclaimed gallery and benefit from mentoring and guidance provided by PEER’s team.
BIOGRAPHIES
Claire Louise Bennett is the author of Pond and Checkout 19, her forthcoming novel. Her fiction and essays have appeared in a number of publications including The White Review, The Stinging Fly, gorse, Harper's Magazine, Vogue Italia, Music & Literature, and The New York Times magazine. She also writes about art and is a frequent contributor to Frieze. In addition she has written for Tate etc., Artforum, and a number of international exhibition catalogues. In 2020, Milan based art publisher Juxta Press published Fish Out Of Water, an essay Claire Louise wrote in response to a self-portrait painting by Dorothea Tanning.
Amy Steel completed her MFA in 2019 from the Slade School of Fine Art and her BA from Goldsmiths University London in 2015. Amy was awarded the ACME Post Graduate Studio Award in 2019. Selected shows include: (solo) Niru Ratnam Gallery, London (2021); Visions, curated by Benedict Drew, Nunnery Gallery, London (2020); FBA Futures, Mall Galleries, London (2019); Ripe Beings, White Crypt, London (2019); Bite, Barbican Arts Trust Group, London (2018); Holiday, ARCADE (pop up), London (2018); Drip Dry, Chalton Gallery, London (2018); Up River, Centre for Contemporary Art, Bulgaria (2017); Arte Laguna, Nappe Arsenale, Venice (2016); New Performers, Toynbee Studios, London (2015); Salirpohilia, Arcadia Missa, London (2013)
Acme’s early career programme provides artists in their first five years of practice with a variety of support structures, including financial subsidy, rent relief, professional development, mentoring, presentation and exhibition opportunities. The programme aims to make a substantial intervention at critical moments in artists’ careers, as they transition from the supportive environment of an arts institution into lifelong professional practice.
