18 FEATURE
HM meets artist Warren Andrews
Being the first artist to pioneer Matthews Yard’s Artist In Residence programme we thought it only fitting he get the Hotminute shakedown :-). We find out what inspires and motivates artist Warren Andrews’ satirical and challenging artworks.
HM: Hi Warren, so being the first ever Matthews Yard Artist In Residence how do you feel about the whole experience? I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity afforded to me by Matthews Yard. The ability to make work in a dedicated space and then show it in a relaxed, informed environment is an invaluable one.
HM: Apart from MY, Croydon isn’t known for having community arts spaces, do you think it’s a necessary provision? How have other such spaces and
opportunities helped you as an artist?
I think it is essential that Croydon and other boroughs make provisions for independent community Art spaces. Spaces like Matthews Yard need to exist to give emerging artists, like myself, opportunity to experiment, play and fail. Most arts institutions, public and private galleries and museums, are regularly impenetrable for new artists and designers, and if you’re lucky enough to get an opportunity you’re often straight jacketed by the fear of losing future chances leading to cautious and unambitious work.
HM: The end product of your residency was the witty documentary ‘The Devils Work’. What is this piece about? The Devils Work uses the format of a blues documentary,
replacing the old blues men and women with artists. While making the film, during my residency, I was thinking about the language that has grown around the arts and about the possibility of using duration as a vehicle for humour. The often surreal and sometimes ridiculous manipulation of language artists, and those attached to the arts, use to talk about art frustrates me. I feel this evolved language is used by the arts community to position itself above the non-art educated, to create a privileged position for themselves.
The ideas and criticism that influence the work I make are mainly born from my own experience
HM: Is this a comment on your own experiences in education and the art world?
The ideas and criticism that influence the work I make are mainly born from my own experience. I was deeply unsatisfied with my experience at art school. I feel there are endemic problems within contemporary arts education, students are not being given a wide enough spectrum of options to follow once they graduate. The whole system is geared towards creating art professionals. This professionalisation of the arts can only have a negative impact, I feel it leads artists to stunt their ambitions and curtails their creativity. This
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