Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
By: Jo Wilson
Originally from Barbados, Alberta Whittle graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2002 with a Tapestry degree.
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Alberta Whittle, ‘Bashy Glitz - Relics from a Familiar Past’.
mixed-media, styrofoam head, sequins, beads, pins, March 2007
Originally from Barbados, Alberta Whittle graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2002 with a Tapestry degree. Although initially finding the transition from student to graduate a struggle, bringing with it a burgeoning disillusionment with art and uncertainty as to the direction of her practice, the consequences of these difficulties were positive; the expansion of her practice, looking to different mediums for inspiration. Two years of steady momentum-building culminated in the confidence to finally “make things” again.
Apparent in Alberta’s practice is the permeation of political circumstances into the work. Media debate around Britishness, citizenship and ID cards led to a creative interest in these issues, through which she explored her own ideas of national identity, and her personal feelings of isolation as an immigrant living far from home.
Alberta’s attitude to being an artist is optimistic: “the variety and breadth of opportunities for artists today really excites me, and I feel more ambitious and positive about realising my goals”.
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Alberta Whittle, ‘Nouveau Britons - Nightmare’.
mixed media, foam, toil de jouy, sequins, beads, pins, April 2007
Born in Barbados but having spent her teenage years in Birmingham and adult life in Scotland, Whittle’s distinctive perspective on modern British culture is reflected in her work.
She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2002 with a tapestry degree. Initially, Alberta found the transition from student to graduate artist a struggle, missing the practical and social benefits that being an art student bring: “I found myself really struggling to come to terms with no longer having a studio and not seeing my peers for informal chats or crits about each other’s work. “
The hurdle Alberta faced was having sufficient confidence in her practice to create; to begin “making things again”. The lack of interaction had led to a sense of disillusionment with the art world, and the inability to see her own legitimate place in it. However, the consequences of these difficulties had ultimately creative outcomes: after a period of momentum building, her practice expanded into the use of different mediums, such as performance art, installation, video and drawing.
Ironically, it was Alberta’s own feelings of isolation that led to a real driving force in her practice: “My practice has been informed by the feelings of isolation I feel as an immigrant living far from home, which is reinforced when I return ‘home’. The catalyst for this was the media debate around Britishness, citizenship ceremonies and ID cards that was rife during her post-art college years. As she explored the issues surrounding national identity, her own artistic character developed, permeated by her external environment. “I wanted to start exploring the mythologies of the Old World and the New World, creating a fusion where their complexities overlap.”
Since then, Alberta has been busy with her own culturally and politically informed performances. In September 2004, Alberta staged her first performance, Purebred Mongrel, as part of an event produced by Aurora Projects, itself a nomadic artist-led initiative. The show was awash with sporting regalia and patriotic pride: flags, heraldry, banners and costume, accompanied by live bagpipes and steel drums. This was shortly followed by a residency at CESTA (Cultural Exchange Station in Tábor), an international not-for-profit centre in the Czech republic, established to foster cultural understanding and tolerance through the arts.
In 2005, Alberta exhibited closer to home at the Collective Gallery in Edinburgh as part of the fourteenth New Work Scotland Programme, alongside Neil Clements.
Earlier this year, she participated in Bodyparts, a performance festival at the Royal Scottish Academy, where she choreographed a performance, entitled, Save Our Souls, which incorporated “repetitive synchronised movements by a uniformed collective, chanting simultaneously, creating an oppressive atmosphere, where the words and movements become almost hypnotic, attracting the mob mentality within us to be part of a group and conversely being repelled by it.”
Alberta also works and exhibits in her old home of Barbados. In 2006, she exhibited at the Zemicon in Barbados, where her work was purchased by the National Art Gallery of Barbados. She has also shown at the Brazillian Embassy there.
The project that Alberta is currently working on is curated by Andrew McLean, with a working title of Nostalgic Erotique, investigating how modern notions of femininity and sexuality have been shaped by pornography.
After an uncertain beginning, Alberta has found her niche in the art world. She feels overwhelmingly positive about what is presently on offer to artists:
“I can’t imagine not making work, so the variety and breadth of opportunities for artists today really excites me. I feel more ambitious and positive about realising my goals, knowing that there are now so many possible sources for funding and spaces available.”
Jo Wilson is a freelance journalist and project officer based in London. A former member of a-n's Editorial Production team, she has an MA in Cultural Management from Northumbria University, where she researched the management of collaborative arts projects in the social realm, with a focus on young offenders. After coordinating the marketing and events for the Contemporary Art Society's ARTfutures 2007, she is currently working as a Project Officer for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) on the Building Schools for the Future programme, which was set up to transform all secondary school learning environments in England.
First published: a-n.co.uk June 2007
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