WEEK #7

MATTHEW MUSGRAVE & DAVID SHROETER

Matthew Musgrave participated to the group show ‘The Value of Liveliness’ in March 2018 and David Schroeter was part of the very first exhibition that marked the opening of White Crypt in November 2016.

All artworks are available to purchase. Should you wish to make an enquiry please email maddie@whitecrypt.com or anais@whitecrypt.com

MATTHEW MUSGRAVE

Ground level, 2019, oil on linen, 22 x 40 cm

In a gap, 2019, oil on linen, 18 x 30 cm

Light bank, 2018, oil on linen, 60 x 53 cm

Matthew Musgrave’s compositions are both considered and then revised within a series, an approach that is seemingly simple but one that enables quite tangential outcomes. A composition may pull away from its starting point, accumulating observations and attempts, as much as it may return. This exploration, repetition or deviation within a series challenges and plays with the relationship between figuration and composition.

Thinking about how the slower pace and lack of ability to consume artworks in the flesh has impacted his practice, Musgrave muses:

I have mostly been making watercolours, looking at light on plants, rocks, a gap in a fence; it seems like a different track, and it has been strange to not see any paintings, no museums, no shows, no chance for taking those things in; stuck with yourself, so to speak.

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website

Matthew Musgrave (b.1985, Torquay, UK) Lives and works in London.

Education: MA Painting, Royal College of Art (2011); BA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art (2008); Foundation Diploma, Chesterfield College (2005)

Selected Exhibitions: Continuous Image, Ocean’s Apart, Manchester (2020); Out Looking Inwards, Painting Project LNM / Praksis, Oslo (2019); P1: Filling Station, She Will, Oslo (2018); The Value of Liveliness, White Crypt Gallery, London (2018); Works on Paper Group Show, 41/42, London (2018); Re Re Re, Winch Gallery, Southend (2017); Pink Density, Clovis XV, Brussels (2016); That Feeling, Eduardo Secci, Milan (2016); The Eyes Have It, 53 Beck Road, London (2016); All the best/yours sincerely, Galeria Alegria, Madrid (2016); Only with a light touch will you write well, freely and fast, Supplement, London (2016); Only with a light touch will you write well, freely and fast, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow (2015); To Paint a Line, Maki Fine Arts, Tokyo (2015); Painting about Painting, Simmons and Simmons, London (2015); Domus, Milcote House, London (2014); Around, Supplement, London (solo) (2014); Painted Horizons, Maggs Bros, London (2014); Head to Head, Standpoint, London (2014); Exhibition, Lion and Lamb, London (2014); Conversation #6, Millington Marriott, London (2014); Painting Show and Performances, Winter Projects, London (2013); Head to Head, Rogue Space, Manchester (2013); Paintings, Supplement Gallery, London (solo) (2012); Gifted, Josh Lilley Gallery, London (2010); The Milkplus Bar, Josh Lilley Gallery, London (2010); Royal College of Art Work In Progress, London (2010); The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place, Zabludowicz Collection, London (2010); Diamonds in the Rough, Stroud House Gallery, Stroud (2010); Oil Shale, Supplement Gallery, London (solo) (2009); Daily Miracles, Josh Lilley Gallery, London (2009); Jerwood Contemporary Painters, London, Leeds, Gloucester, Norwich (2009); New Sensations, Truman Brewery, London (2008); Best in Show, John Jones project Space, London; Summer Show at Pushkin House, London (2008); Boundary Gallery Prize for Figurative Art, London (2008) Vault, Shoreditch Town Hall, London (2008).

Awards: Out Look Inwards, Painting Project residency, Praksis, Oslo (2019); Jerwood Contemporary Painters, London, Leeds, Gloucester, Norwich (2009); Erasmus, MKE, Budapest (2007).

DAVID SCHROETER

Platform 1, 2019, oil on canvas, 120 x 160 cm

Rainbow Bricks, 2019, oil on canvas, 130 x 160 cm

Subway Series, 2019, oil on canvas, 150 x 170 cm

Brockley, 2019, oil on linen, 120 x 160 cm

The End of the World, 2020, oil on canvas, 150 x 170 cm

Inwood, 2020, oil on canvas, 85 x 100 cm

David Schroeter’s paintings depict scenes of architecture, both real and metaphorical, rendered with the colourful irreverence and playful humour of comic books. Schroeter is primarily interested in images relevant to cities, such as construction sites or building entrances—subjects that imply activity. Other times the paintings appear more primordial, featuring stone circles and broken columns, compositions where the seemingly natural and spontaneous state of objects contrasts with the rigid intentionality of architecture.

Speaking about how he has been exploring the structure of our urban transport systems within the confines of his home, Schroeter explains:

During the lockdown I’ve avoided the studio and focused on drawing at my desk, mostly train diagrams. I chose to reorganise the New York Subway into a speculative subway map using Google Maps where no two services share the same tracks anywhere in the city. It’s a complete reinvention of a transport system that allows me to explore the city virtually even if it’s only from one narrow perspective. My proposal does not necessarily work practically as much as offer food for thought. It would make the subway great, but what makes the subway great already exists.

I’m currently starting on a speculative tube map for London, reorganising the lines, tracks, and services into a more streamlined system. Some of my decisions may seem culturally controversial, even if they generate obvious efficiencies. I’m talking about removing the Circle line service in particular which would help to eliminate interlining. No Circle line in London? I’m winning no friends with this plan I think.

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website
@david_shorter

David Schroeter (b.1988, New York, NY, USA) Lives and works in London, and New York.

Education: MA Painting, Royal College of Art (2016); BA Fine Art, Advanced Painting Intensive, Columbia University, New York, NY (2011); BS Studio Art, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (2006-10).

Selected exhibitions: Tripp Gallery, London (2017); Herrick Gallery, London (2017); Bronx River Art Center, Bronx, NY (2016); Galeriehaus Defet, Nuremberg, Germany (2016); Lychee One, London (2016); Dyson Gallery, Royal College of Art (2016); The China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China (2015); Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art (2015); BronxArtSpace, Bronx, NY (2014); Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY (2013); Bronx Museum of Art (2013); No Longer Empty, New York, NY (2012); Columbia University, New York, NY (2011).

Awards: Da Vinci Painting Residency, Atelier-und Galeriehaus Defet, Nuremburg (2016) Hine Painting Prize, RCA Degree Show, Royal College of Art, London (2016); Artist in the Marketplace, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY (2012).