Friday 17th July, 4pm GMT, Live.
Ben Judd and Hugo Worthy
As a part of Leicester Gallery’s Universes programme the artist Ben Judd will discuss his work for Leicester Gallery in 2021. He is expanding a project begun as part of Fig Futures in 2018 that developed a fictional community from the history of the gallery site and Leicester’s industrial heritage. The process that he follows involves multi-disciplinary collaborations with writers, costume designers, artists, choreographers and musicians. He will present an overview of his practice and the project followed by a conversation with the curator Hugo Worthy.
Ben Judd
Ben Judd’s work examines his relationship to specific individuals and groups; recently the choreographic and the rhythmic has been used as a method of constructing temporary communities. The work explores how the ritualistic activities of marginalised groups and individuals can be extended into an action realised by actors (one that itself hovers on the border between immersion and a more self-conscious, knowing state), and how, in turn, this action can be interpreted in a moving image work. Positioning himself and the audience as both participant and observer, he engages the grey area between ritual and performance, searching for an unreachable and idealised state of community.
Judd has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, including: ICA, London; Whitstable Biennial, UK; Tokyo Opera City Gallery, Tokyo; The Barbican Art Gallery, London; Royal Academy, London; International Center of Photography, New York; Impakt Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany; The Photographers’ Gallery, London; Kunstbunker, Nuremberg, Germany; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Rotterdam International Film Festival; The David Roberts Art Foundation, London; Zendai MoMA, Shanghai; Chisenhale Gallery, London.
Hugo Worthy
Arts Curator at Leicester Gallery, where the programme focusses on artists and design strategies to create new participation and engagement. Work with artists practices rooted in performance, community building and participation underpin the program.
Please email LeicesterGallery@DMU.ac.uk to confirm attendance and a Zoom invitation will be sent to you on the day of the talk.