Nicholas had me interested at the words ' I think I would like a closing instead of an opening... my works would like to celebrate at the end of the event'. Hmm I said... interesting.
I love the way Nicholas imbues his work in conversation with real life qualities, they 'mumble', they shift restlessly on the walls and floor. I asked Nicholas a couple of questions to get us started and connected with his work - so here we go - the shifting painterly world of Nicholas Pound -
E. You use the term ‘Malapropic Malaise’ to describe your work – I love the playful alliteration and the way the words make us feel out of step and perhaps unsure before we begin. Is this what you want us to feel?
N.Yes, well picked up. I am interested in the margins of art. Hovering between earnestness and error. Jon Bywater gave me that line ‘Malapropic malaise’ when I was at art school. I want to try claim a space for myself there. There are enough people making sense and with clear message. Enough art for the timeline. For me, I like also when an art might mumble, when it’s a bit hard to stomach. When things are redacted. These seem like little plea’s to me, often figures with a sort of dissociated quality emerge. Ghostly votives. The funny thing is that I am playing with very literal/obvious ideas also. “Plastic potentially bad”, “too much stuff in the world”. Part of this showings deflated feel is around this sort of impasse I am at. Poor messaging, these are sort of bad balloons, worried face painting. About expectations of what art might look like, and be about now. A sort of ‘not pro anything’ approach that I hope is refreshing. Perhaps this is middle age? I am in the lineage of Dada, the situationists and Fluxus, but parochially normative in revolt of even them!
E. I have followed your work for a few years now, as a painter I have always understood your paintings. In this presentation Floating Vote we have a sort of Installation/sculpture/painting/found object hybrid- they feel very brave to me and confident. As if you know what you are saying, is this a result of your Master’s?
N. In my Masters project I took advantage of having Dan Arps as my supervisor. I studied materialist philosophy and criticism. Specifically, the philosophical ideas of Jane Bennett, Graham Harman, Phyllida Barlow, and The Meme Machine (Susan Blackmore's book on memetics), you could describe their shared concerns through the lens of agency, autonomy, and instability in objects—how materials might assert themselves. The irony of course being that any confidence you are perceiving is feigned or forced upon me by rules I am following around materiality and process mixed with time-based mood description.
I have been playing by trying to follow, very literally, edicts on materiality. Not subscribing to any theory in particular, trying to use them all. Exhausted with painting I stole the idea from poet Matvei Yankelevich to insert a rule into every painting. He used Winter to help describe his ‘chilly despondency’. Having the word winter ‘have to’ appear at the start or end of all his poems.
For The Flotilla the rule was that each artwork would allude to the shape and size of a little floaty. Playing into the materiality of Styrofoam. For this project Floating Vote, the floaty rule has had the addition that each work must have an object (toy or otherwise) inserted into it. I have chosen, mostly little toys that were on the verge of binhood. I am playing with acceptability in art, what we want in our pictures, the paintings face, giving these objects a sort of jurisdiction over it…
My method for object gathering is quite diaristic. The objects gathered as I read and learn. Mostly gathered from constant op shopping. They are in a meta discussion with my thinking through of making art, I like to think of them as ‘objects found’ a strange sort of shopping, and have used the analogy of the party as an install strategy to further play up an idea of inevitability in this project. The inevitability of an opening, a sort of party was in mind, I love how the works might describe the experience of artist as party thrower now.
And on this note - we will now be having a closing. A celebration perhaps of the works ability to stay focused for the 3 week show and remain in situ, I feel like the traditional gallery setting makes them a little uncomfortable. Will this be the end of their journey I wonder. We invite you to join us during the 3 week showing to connect, converse and consider Nicholas's 'minor geatures'. And then come back for our closing celebration and party with these hybrid paintings & with Nicholas, of course.
Exhibition Wed 2nd - Sat 26th April
Closing Celebration Sat 26th April 3-5pm
Artist bio :
Nicholas Pound graduated from Elam in 2015 with a first-class honours degree and has just completed his Masters at WhiteCliffe. He has exhibited mostly in artist run spaces; Can I use your toilet please (Group), Fuzzyvibes, 2015, A trip to the Beach (Group), PlayStation, 2017, Tiny Biceps (solo), Satchiandsatchiandsatchi, 2018, You know what this is (Solo), Weasel gallery, 2019. Radical Painting 2 (Group) Sanc Gallery, 2020. 71% Great expectations, (Group) Iwt project space. 2021 Yoricka (Solo) Satchiandsatchiandsatchi 2021. The flotilla (solo) The Strand arcade, 2024.
In 2018 Nicholas was the Karekare house artist in residence.
Nicholas's work is held in the Art House Trust and private collections.
