‘Aggregate’

Anne Carney Raines, Bethany Hadfield, C. Lucy. R. Whitehead, Catherine Repko and Richard Burton

8th of November - 15th of December

Aggregate noun

/ˈaɡrɪɡət/

1. a whole formed by combining several separate elements.

2. a material or structure formed from a mass of fragments or particles loosely compacted together.

Aggregate connotes a mass or body of units or parts somewhat loosely associated with one another, or the whole sum or amount. As a verb–something I would posit art and indeed painting is now better understood as rather than a noun that reassuringly starts and stops within the closed frame of an object–the pronunciation of aggregate shifts in register to include an important agency that is both social and supportive. This is central to addressing the work of the artists before you. The work of each these five artists arises as a singularity but something so too nourished by a sustained sibling culture that owes as much to a sensibility as shared studios and space.

Conversations can and do transcend space and proximity and the continuity of the conversation these five artists have maintained has faced immense challenges that transcends space. Aggregate is also something one may add to their medium and mix with oils in marble, diamond dust, or sand. This is a practical material hinge one may employ as a way into the work, particularly in those by Catherine Repko and Richard Burton, but so too practically in the paintings of Anne Carney Raines, Lucy Whitehead or Bethany Hadfield.

AC, Beth, Lucy, Cat, Richard. I want to offer aggregate here as a metaphor for conversation. If looking for a thematic that binds these works together as a show, one could begin with formal elements that connect, and while perhaps useful as an entry, this would reduce the work to commonalities of line, form and perhaps composition. Such a move would offer a reduced entry and way in. From the position I have, which I fully acknowledge and give thanks for the privileged view provided, I feel the work as intimately linked through person and place–the setting for a conversation I was at times privileged to be part of, listen in on and above all, witness the profound developments that were a product of this extended conversation in the growth of both person and work. Spaces shape conversations as conversations can enact on work. Contexts do the same for meaning and person. The power and force of a conversation that is shared may begin in an institution and a shared space, but if nourished and lasting will transcend all that came before. I feel this is the case with these fabulous five. I refer to them by the name for each that evolved in conversations in their studios during tutorials and spontaneous conversations as I witnessed the growth of each and their work in what were often uniquely trying times. I am thrilled to be with them again, see new and evolving work and witness their growth as people and artists. Being included in, around, or privy to such conversations is what those who teach value and this is the aggregate privilege I want to open a way into for you here. To follow, aggregate relates here to a community of artists engaged in a collective conversation that is linked to but also importantly transcends space and institution. The works included in Aggregate–all made during 2023 and connected in part to the shape of conversations that originated in two Soho studio locations–evidence subtle yet profound elaborations and developments of these artists’ practices that thrill.

Words by John Slyce

John is a writer and critic based in London. He is a senior tutor in the painting programme at the Royal College of Art and currently an acting co-head in the programme.