theaussieword.com caught up with London lad John Bingham – the young artist who is doing an impressive job making it big in the fine world of Art. Currently studying Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School, John was scouted for the debut ‘The Other Art Fair’ which took place on the Southbank at Oxo Tower wharf in 2011, this new fair for emerging artists was a huge success and John sold his first works to a collector from the White Cube Gallery in London. Since then he’s gone on to create more work and to participate in group shows. He’s worked as an artist for TOMS, recently showing work at a Schuh store as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. A new series of paintings will be shown later this month at at Baku restaurant in Chelsea, in collaboration with the successful classical composer and producer Fabio D’Andrea.
Artist Statement:
Visually chaotic and uneven in form, John’s paintings incorporate ephemeral material, personal information and detritus from everyday life within a city. Using such material from his home city of London, his mixed media paintings are abstract and not always referential in content. His interest lies in the condition of location and the shape of a community. Through collecting paper on journeys through his home city, information is found. Individual pieces of paper begin to show a kind of personality and story that tends to relate to the overall view and opinion that our society casts on particular areas. Paper collected from an affluent area with the highest priced homes is generally of better quality and there is less of it, compared to a smaller environment in the same city with a higher population and crime rate, where waste is much more in abundance.
Treating the scraps of paper as if they have lived a life, pieces from contrasting locations are collated on canvas in several layers. Stripping back text and imagery whilst merging the layers with power tools and sandpaper give calm and a sense of relation is found through the chaos. Continuously finding new relationships through shape and colour. On occasion, house paints and emulsion have been found on the street and are incorporated into the painting. Relying on a memory of journey, road maps are painted across the surface of a finished painting. John’s practise also encompasses video, sculpture and drawing in which a sense of community and relationship is embedded. John also works as an artist’s assistant for some of London’s best new contemporary artists and galleries.
John Bingham – www.john-bingham.com