Piers Wardle
Christopher Piers Arthur Wardle (20 April 1960 - 22 December 2009) was a British artist, musician and art factotum. Born in Beckenham, he lived in Southwark, London, UK and died in Clyst Hydon, Devon, UK.
Biography
After Exeter School where he illustrated the school magazine, designed stage sets for productions and painted a mural of a crow (inspired by Ted Hughes) on the sixth form common room wall, and Exeter College of Art and Design (1978–79), he went to Oxford's Ruskin School of Drawing (1979–82), where his friends included the artists William Latham, Adam Lowe, and Helen Elwes. There too he met the poet Stephen Micalef who was at the other Ruskin College.
He was the great-grandson of the painter Arthur Wardle. He participated in numerous one man shows and group exhibitions of painting and conceptual art. Initially represented by Purdy Hicks, later Wardle moved to Joshua Compston's Factual Nonsense Gallery. Wardle also contributed a print to Compston's limited edition book Other Men's Flowers.[1][2] He subsequently exhibited at, amongst others, the Decima Gallery and the Courtauld Institute, and for thirty years collaborated with Stephen Micalef, providing piano accompaniment to the latter's poetry. In addition they produced works on paper; Wardle as Micalef's illustrator.
Wardle also worked as a picture editor for the Redstone Diary. Recent more formal activities included 'printing' concrete for Anish Kapoor[3], fixing a Marc Quinn, analysing Caravaggio's brush work in Rome, and scanning both Tutankhamun's tomb and Paolo Veronese's Marriage at Cana, (all of which arranged by Factum Arte).
Solo exhibitions
A random selection of either solo shows, or solo collaborations with Steve Micalef.
- 1992: 17 July - 8 August, Piers Wardle - Paintings and Installations, at Pomeroy Purdy Gallery, Jacob Street film studios, Mill Street, London, SE1 2BA. (Pomeroy Purdy was the origin of what in 2010 is the Purdy Hicks Gallery, of Bankside, London).
- 1999: 3–10 May: Nine Planets in alignment, by Micalef, Piers Wardle and Michael Daykin, for the Attaché Gallery. Launched at the Pride of Spitalfields, Heneage Street, E.C. on May 3;
- 2005: March: Piers Wardle & Stephen Micalef at Guy Hilton Gallery, Commercial Street, London. Organized by Guy Hilton;
- 2005: May: Piers & Micalef - Are You Thinking What We're Thinking? at Upstairs Gallery, Clerkenwell, London. Organised by Alex Chappel & Fiona Watson to coincide with United Kingdom general election, 2005;
- 2008: May: Piers & Micalef - Banksy versus Barksy at Decima Gallery, Hackney Wick, London. Organised by Decima.[4]
Group exhibitions
A random selection of group exhibitions in which Piers participated:
- 1981: ACME;
- 1982: Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (MOMO);
- 1990: Eastbourne Clark Gallery, Florida;
- 1991-92: John Moores' exhibition in Liverpool. He described the work sent there as ' think Mitchelson-Morley '.
- sometime at Bernhard Baron gallery;
- 1993: March: Es la Manera! (Potential Ideals c1845-2000+) (Translated as: Is The Way) at Factual Nonsense, Shoreditch, London. Organized by Joshua Compston.[5]
- 1993: June: S.S. Excess - from Mary Magdalen to John the Baptist at Factual Nonsense, Shoreditch, London. Organized by Joshua Compston.[6]
- 1993: November: Hardcore at Factual Nonsense, Shoreditch, London. Organized by Joshua Compston. Alongside artists Gary Hume, Andrew Capstick, Fiona Rae, David Taborn, Darren Coffield, Rebecca Bower, Dan Asher & David J. Smith.[7]
- 1995: July: The Hanging Picnic, at Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, London. Organized by Joshua Compston.[8]
- 1998: April: Was Jesus a Homosexual? at Decima Gallery, SE1, London.[9]
- 1998: The Windy Nook Chip Shop at the Waygood Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Organised by Derrick Welsh & Decima as part of Visual Arts North East 98 (VANE98).
- 1999: September The Time Has Come as part of the Articultural Show, South Bank, London. Organised by Gavin Turk.
- 2000: March: n01se, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge. Organized by artist Adam Lowe and historian of science Simon Schaffer.
- 2008: February: The Famous, the Infamous and the Really Quite Good. at Decima Gallery, Hackney Wick, London.[10]
- 2008: Summer: The Cowboy Art Fair at Decima Gallery, Hackney Wick, London. Organised by Geraldine Ryan.[11]
- 2008: August: The Art Olympics at Decima Gallery, Hackney Wick, London.
- 2009: October: Britain's Rubbish at Molecular Studio, Berlin, Germany. Organised by Decima & Molecular Studio.
- 2009: December: What Happens After the Ball? at Decima Clark West, Piccadilly, London. Organised by Decima, Nomad Galleries and Jackie Clark. Wardle exhibited two pieces in this show - one piece by 'Piers & Micalef' and one piece by Piers Wardle.[12]
External
References
- ^ Compston, Joshua (1994). Other Men's Flowers. London: Paragon Press.
- ^ Compston, Joshua; Glew, Andrew (1995). "Other Men's Flowers: A Corsage for the '90s". London: Zing Magazine. http://www.zingmagazine.com/zing2/r/other.html. Retrieved 1/2/10.
- ^ Wardle, Piers; Lowe, Adam; Perry, Michael; Kapoor, Anish (2009). Anish Kapoor. Unconformity and Entropy (Greyman Cries, Shaman Dies, Billowing Smoke, Beauty Evoked). Madrid: Turner Ediciones. ISBN 847506891X. http://www.copyrightbookshop.be/nl/books/details/3513/1.
- ^ Martin, Richard (15/5/08). "Art Pops". Meetin.org. http://www.meetin.org/city/MEETinLONDON/MessageRoomDetail.cfm?TestimonialID=651228. Retrieved 1/2/10.
- ^ Cooper, Jeremy (2000). No FuN Without U - The Art of Factual Nonsense. London: Ellipsis. p. 62. ISBN 1899858806. http://openlibrary.org/b/OL6894675M/No_fun_without_U.
- ^ Cooper, Jeremy (2000). No FuN Without U - The Art of Factual Nonsense. London: Ellipsis. p. 67. ISBN 1899858806. http://openlibrary.org/b/OL6894675M/No_fun_without_U.
- ^ Cooper, Jeremy (2000). No FuN Without U - The Art of Factual Nonsense. London: Ellipsis. p. 114. ISBN 1899858806. http://openlibrary.org/b/OL6894675M/No_fun_without_U.
- ^ Cooper, Jeremy (2000). No FuN Without U - The Art of Factual Nonsense. London: Ellipsis. p. 146. ISBN 1899858806. http://openlibrary.org/b/OL6894675M/No_fun_without_U.
- ^ "Pandora". The Independent (London). Wednesday, 31 March 1999. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/pandora-1084124.html. "Another exhibitor, Piers Wardle, has made a crucifix with wooden balls attached by a "string that can be played with" and called it The Miracle of Holy Balls."
- ^ Holland, Jessica (12 February 2008). "Decima-tion in E3". The London Paper (London: News International): p. 13. http://www.thelondonpaper.com/going-out/whats-new/hackney-art-the-decima-gallery. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ The Gentle Author (2010). "So long, Piers Wardle". London: Spitalfields Life. http://spitalfieldslife.com/2010/01/11/so-long-piers/. Retrieved 7/2/10.
- ^ Jeffries, Tom (2009). "What Happens After The Ball?". London: Spoonfed Media. http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/london/event/what-happens-after-the-ball/at/decima-clark-west/. Retrieved 1/2/10.
- Anish Kapoor. Unconformity and Entropy. (Greyman Cries, Shaman Dies, Billowing Smoke, Beauty Evoked), by Piers Wardle, Adam Lowe, Michael Perry & Anish Kapoor, Turner Ediciones, Madrid, 2009. (ISBN 978-8475068916)
- No Fun Without You - The Art of Factual Nonsense by Jeremy Cooper, Published in 2000, Ellipsis (London). (Pages 62, 67, 86, 114 & 157). (Illustrations on pages 114 & 146). (ISBN 1899858806)
- David Buckman's Artists in Britain since 1945, Art Dictionaries Ltd, Bristol, 2006.
| Persondata |
| Name |
Wardle, Piers |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
20 April 1960 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
22 December 2009 |
| Place of death |
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