Jill Townsley
My work is usually large in scale, often installation based or temporary, though the physical action applied to it's construction is generally of a domestic ‘hand-held' dimension, and always excruciatingly repetitive. Current work reflects a long-term interest in ‘The Role of Repetition Within the Process of Art Production'. I am interested in how subjective results of repetitive action, such as ‘failure through repetition', ‘temporality', ‘erasure' or ‘shifting authorships' have influenced the processes followed within the production of artwork, and how outcomes may (or may not) be contextualised within broader theories of repetition, culture and science. Recent work has utilised elements of time-laps animation or video, in the quest to reveal the repetition of process through time.
EDUCATION
2005-2010 PhD (practice-based) Liverpool University, supported a Gladstone Fellowship from Chester University.
1993-1995 MA Sculpture, Royal College of Art
1986-1989 BA (Hon) Embroidery, Manchester Metropolitan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 Sisyphus: Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield
2012 TOIL: Project 4 Gallery, Washington DC, USA
2010 Moments of Repetition: The Nunnery, London
2004 Bristles, Balls and Brass: University of Hertfordshire Gallery
1995 5 Squared: Atrium Gallery, Coopers and Lybrand, London
1994 Eroding Pythagoras: Angel Row Art Gallery, Nottingham
1993 One line and a Diagonal: The Pearooms Gallery, Lincolnshire
1992 Mathematics of the Eye: The Bonington Gallery, Nottingham
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 Plastic Matter: Art and Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire
2019 DATAMI: The Bozar, Centre fro Fine Art, Brussels
2019 Resonance III Festival: JRC Italy, a SciArt and Eu funded project
2018 Place, Space, Action: The Market Gallery, Huddersfield
2015 Carbon Meets Silicon: Oriel Sycharth Gallery, Wrexham
2015 ROTA Thought Positions in Sculpture: Huddersfield Art Gallery
2013 Finalist: 7th International Arte Laguna Prize: Venice Arsenal, Italy
2012 Upcycle: ATHICA: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Georgia, USA
2011 Compulsive, Obsessive, Repetitive. Towner Contemporary, Eastbourne
2011 Textures of Time: Frederick Parker Gallery, London
2010 The Plazaprinciple, Leeds
2010 Making and Unmaking, Repair and Repetition: Axis online. Curated: Helen Carnac
2009 Winchester School of Art Research Anthology: Winchester Gallery
2008-09 Second Lives – Remixing the Ordinary, The Museum of Art & Design, New York
2008 Unnatural Histories: The Nunnery, London
2007 Negotiated Positions: Chester University
2006 The Same Difference: Stark Gallery, London
2005 In-formation: The Foundry Gallery Vault, London
2004 Fantastic Plastic: 20-21 Gallery, Scunthorpe
2003 Venus Sapiens: Luke and A Gallery, London
2003 Mirror II Nature: Mile End Art Pavilion London
2003 Chairman’s Choice: The Nunnery Gallery London
2002 The Chelsea Physic Garden Exhibition London
2000&2002 Art Futures: The Barbican, Contemporary Art Society, London
1999-2001 The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden
1997-1998 Free to Move: Birmingham Craft Space, Touring
1997 Exhibition: Addison Wesley Longmans, Harlow
1996 Art at 100: Hammersons, Park Lane, London
1995 Art Marathon (BBC): Derry, Northern Ireland
1995 Chelsea Physic Garden: Summer Exhibition
1995 Paris Selection (RCA): The Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris
1993-1994 Pan European FLEXIBLE Art: Germany, Holland, England, Poland.
1993 White Form: Turnpike Gallery, Lancashire
1992-1994 Crafts in Performance: Crafts Council Gallery, London & Touring
1989 A.D. Graduate Exhibition: Aram Design Studio’s, London
COMMISSIONS
2011 Sculpture: Clifford Chance offices. Washington DC
2011 Sculpture: 'Till Rolls' Towner Contemporary, Eastbourne
(2002-03) Sculpture: Chevron Texaco. Aberdeen
1999 Sculpture: Private collection, Chelsea, London
1998 Short-listed: Sculpture, Rotherham General Hospital
1997 Short-listed: Sculpture, Roles Royce Headquarters, Crew
1996 Short-listed: Sculpture, KPMG Headquarters, City of London
1996 Sculpture: Wollaton Hall, Nottingham
1990 Sculpture: Albion Wharf Building, Central Manchester
1988 Textile Hanging: Manchester Metropolitan University
1987 Wall Panel: St Mary’s Hospital Manchester
PROFESSIONAL POSTS
2018 - 2022 Artist Expert at SciArt - to the EU Commission
2009 - date Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Arts, University of Huddersfield.
2006 - 2009 Lecturer, Winchester School of Art, Southampton University.