Jeffrey Bligh by David Thorp
This new exhibition at Contemporary Space Jeffrey Bligh by David Thorp, curated by Tomas Poblete, presents a selection of works that correspond to different episodes in Bligh’s rich life. It talks about time and transformation, using the language of conceptual art to explore memory. It alludes to the idea that nothing remains static through time and that this continuous flux and evolution blends history and life juxtaposing different realities. Bligh and Thorp share some similarities. Jeffrey Bligh was adopted shortly after birth and from then on, he was known as David Thorp. Recently, Bligh has returned as an artist to his birth name, everything Jeffrey Bligh does David Thorp does too.
Bligh’s correlations between image and indecipherable text build up layered textures that record and re-evaluate unreliable and fragmented memories. He often prints photographs many years after they were first taken contrasting memory with the present. This record of fleeting encounters and intense moments conveying memories of place and time enable him to articulate and understand the personal narratives that underpin his lived experience
Throughout his work, Bligh has always tried to make paintings where the juxtaposition of shapes and compositional elements are kept to an absolute minimum. He is not very interested in the conventions of painting per se and formal arrangements within the picture or the use of photography to make 'good photographs'. He was and is much more concerned about what happens before a work is conceived and after it is completed. As Bligh puts it, “When I started with photographs (rather than photography) I was more interested in photos about something rather than photos of something and I still am.” Bligh's use of words and poems are all part of this exploratory journey. As a performer Jeffrey Bligh creates the texts inwardly, he doesn't speak out loud. The indecipherable words in his paintings are the inaudible sound of internal speech vibrations made visual and they dictate how the final image appears.
The cycle of life experience and creation doubles up on this body of work as much as a referential dialogue between Jeffrey and David. It is a compelling conceptual journey through fragments of captured time that spans over 40 years.
This new exhibition at Contemporary Space is curated by Tomas Poblete and presents a selection of works that correspond to different episodes of Bligh’s rich life. Early on, from Bligh’s involvement in a closed religious cult to him traveling deep into Wales searching for a greater connection with nature, where he would place cosmic symbols at the top of hills and in the woods to set them alight in ritual fires, to his convalescence from hepatitis in Australia were he experimented in a more performative way. The private performances depict the space and experiences of the body that would help Bligh keep cool from the Australian heat whilst recovering.
Tomas Poblete is a Chilean born multi-disciplinary artist and independent curator based in the UK (b.1976). He is also co-founder of CT20, and a Folkestone resident.
Opening times
Friday 1 July 11am - late
Saturday 2 July 12 - 6pm
Sunday 3 July 12 - 6pm
From the 4th -11 th by Appointment
Contemporary Space
69 Tontine Street, Folkestone England, CT20 1JR