Sunday Salon 20

The curatorial and editorial project for systems, non-objective and reductive artists working in the UK

Sunday Salon 20 | Morrissey & Hancock

Saturation Point Studio, 19 June 2022.

DIARY OF A PAINTING

Six years ago we moved from our studio at The Nunnery at Bow Arts, where we had spent three years working without natural daylight, which was good for film works and light installations. While we were there we had concentrated on composition using forms and repeating sequences, and had worked mainly in black and white but also with very flat, pre-mixed colour. Having no windows made the old studio warm in winter and cool in summer, which we have a slight nostalgia for now.

Moving back to Deptford, into a much larger space with huge Crittall windows and skylights, has vastly improved our working environment: it is saturated with light as the studio faces north. Our first joint piece of work was derived from the TQID series of work; it is a hexaptych inspired by our local walks in Greenwich Park. It was made in the autumn, using a six-colour progression on the six panels. Since then we have continued to develop our joint collaborative practice.

The making of a typical piece involves a totally reciprocal attitude and approach. There is no time for ego here; we are discussing what we want to achieve, mixing pigments, considering aesthetic points, and dealing with the practical and technical aspects of creating the work. Then…the manufacturing and commissioning of components, and a wide range of other considerations that make up the ongoing creative process.

These are the pigments we typically use, sometimes mixed but often flat, straight form the can:

Cadmium red

Pyrrole orange

Bizmuth vanadate yellow

Blue

Violet

The Sunday Salon events enable us to encourage and support (and examine the work of) other artists whom we admire, and enables them to use our studio as a temporary project space. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. We have the luxury of working amongst other artists’ work – this inspires us, and when the day’s ‘Salon ‘ event is over, we can bring out our studio paraphernalia from behind the scenes, carry on with our own projects and contemplate others’ work. It’s a bit like having a personal revolving art gallery, with the added bonus that it prevents the studio piling up with detritus, which would simply clutter our heads!

This latest Sunday Salon, number 20, is our own. We were encouraged to put it on by a number of fellow artists, and it turned out to be a great success, with many of our friends and supporters coming along on the day to discuss the work (as well as many other things) in a warm and mutually supportive atmosphere.

The work is on display until 29June, by appointment.

Morrissey & Hancock, Automatic Art 2 (2022)