Celia Scott, Remembered Space: Studio Works
Velorose, 12 April 2018 – 25 May 2018

Remembered Space: Studio Works by Celia Scott concentrates on the most recent period of the artist’s practice, and exhibits work made in her studio in North London which is similar in scale to the gallery at Velorose

Having trained and worked as an architect, and then as an artist, it is perhaps unsurprising that Scott’s practice hovers on the boundary between architecture and fine art. Her work harks back to the utopian period of British art of the 1930s, via Constructionism (Britain 1950s), and Scott’s own formative period as an architect in the 1960s and 1970s. Oscillating between modern commitment and post-modern detachment, between Concrete Art and representation, Scott’s art is where the real meets abstraction

All the works in this show derive from lived- or worked-in places, and constitute a blend of Scott’s exploration of memory and of architectural form; for example, House Reimagined (2018) recalls the plan of the house in which Scott grew up, but with relative sizes that speak more of memory than of reality. Another fusion of interests emerges from a fascination with both materials in general, and with International Modernism; the materials used in the show (plywood, aluminium, spray paint) are redolent of early modern architecture. These materials, along with a variety of processes (drawing, painting, spraying, sanding, carving), are deployed by Scott adeptly to create perceptual ambiguities that achieve a language of forms suggesting missing links for the viewer’s eye to complete. The memories are Scott’s, but she employs their representation to trigger those of the viewer

Works that illustrate the power of this language of forms, and its ability to engage the viewer, include Tabula Rasa I and II (both 2018), where two tables are juxtaposed in a way that creates a perceptual play with space, drawing one into the painting; the plywood ground could itself be a tabletop, asserting the objecthood of the work. The Object-Space series, like its earlier Object-Place counterpart, pushes the image further towards abstraction, and asserts the significance of the plywood, and of the pieces as objects. Newman’s Dilemma I and II (both 2018) follow Scott’s Windows series, inspired by her coming across Matisse’s radical painting French Window at Collioure (1914), and engage the viewer not only perceptually, but physically, as the vertical bars are movable objects that enable us to create our own compositions. The Threshold series takes us with Scott into the realm of the impossible, giving “promise of a world which I know cannot exist”; the real is abstracted to the point of being unreal

All works are for sale; contact gallery@velorose.com for details

Celia Scott, Tabula Rasa I (2018), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood and Aluminium, 150cm x 90cm

Celia Scott, Tabula Rasa II (2018), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood and Aluminium, 150cm x 90cm

Celia Scott, Threshold I (2018), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood and Aluminium, 150cm x 90cm

Celia Scott, Threshold II (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 40cm x 35cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Threshold III (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 40cm x 34.5cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Object-Space VI (2015), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood, 50cm x 40cm

Celia Scott, Object-Space VII (2018), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood, 50cm x 40cm

Celia Scott, Object-Space VIII (2018), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood, 50cm x 40cm

Celia Scott, Object-Space IX (2018), Acrylic and Spray Paint on Plywood, 50cm x 40cm

Celia Scott, Newman’s Dilemma I (2018), Acrylic and Aluminium on Plywood, 22.5cm x 72cm x 4cm

Celia Scott, Newman’s Dilemma II (2018), Acrylic and Aluminium on Plywood, 22.5cm x 72cm x 4cm

Celia Scott, House Reimagined (2018), Acrylic on Plywood, 42cm x 43cm x 7cm

Celia Scott, Looking In I (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 40cm x 35cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Looking In II (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 40cm x 35cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Looking Through (2016), Japanese Woodcut on Paper, 15cm x 10cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Looking Through I (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34cm x 28.5cm, 1/4 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Looking Through I (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34cm x 28.5cm, 2/4 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Looking Through I (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34cm x 28.5cm, 3/4 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Looking Through I (2018), Screen Print on Paper, 34cm x 28.5cm, 4/4 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Looking Through II (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34.5cm x 29cm, Edition of 1

Celia Scott, Looking Through III (2018), Screen Print on Paper, 40cm x 35.5cm, 1/10 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Looking Through Reduced (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 40cm x 35.5cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Looking Through Exploded (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 40cm x 35.5cm, Edition of 10

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real I (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34cm x 29cm, 1/2 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real I (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34cm x 29cm, 2/2 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real II (2017), Japanese Woodcut on Paper, 24cm x 19.5cm, 1/10 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real III (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34.5cm x 28cm, 1/5 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real III (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34.5cm x 28cm, 2/5 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real III (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34.5cm x 28cm, 3/5 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real III (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34.5cm x 28cm, 4/5 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real III (2017), Screen Print on Paper, 34.5cm x 28cm, 5/5 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real IV (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 50.5cm x 40cm, 1/5 Variable Edition

Celia Scott, Residue of the Real V (2018), Woodcut on BFK Rives 300gsm, 50.5cm x 40cm, Edition of 5

Celia Scott is an artist-architect. Trained at the Bartlett, she worked in New York and then in London where she also set up her own architectural practice. Scott later earned an MA in Fine Art from the City and Guilds School of Art (2015), where she won the Harriet Anstruther Prize for Excellence. In 2016, she exhibited at Turps Gallery (as part of their first Open Call show), and at the Zetter. In 2017, Scott was selected for the exhibition Exceptional, which included work selected from recent graduates of three top London art schools. Scott has also featured in two previous Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions

Scott’s sculpture (produced since the 1980s) has been exhibited widely and she has had solo shows at the Spitalfields Gallery in London and John Nichols Gallery, New York City. Her sculptures are held in several public and private collections in the UK (including the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the British Library, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Academy of Music) and in private collections in Europe and the USA. A book on her sculpture, Celia Scott, was published by Black Dog