firstsite contemporary art colchester

Andrew Bracey, Various Titles, 2004/5

11 February – 18 March 2006
Andrew Bracey
Freianlage

firstsite is delighted to present the first solo exhibition by emerging British artist Andrew Bracey. Freianlage brings together a new series with existing works, demonstrating how bodies of work seemingly overlap and inform one another.

Freianlage is a German term meaning open enclosure. It was a phrase used by pioneering zoo-owner Carl Hagenbeck, who worked at the turn of the twentieth-century to make animal enclosures more akin to their natural environments. This model of presenting animals naturally continues to be used today and Bracey has created his recent work with it very much in mind: looking at parallels between the zoo and the art gallery his paintings surprise and enchant with their scale and invitation for further investigation.

The artist’s new work has been influenced by a number of research trips to zoos, including Colchester Zoo. Bracey is a painter, but his method of painting on everyday found items on a miniature scale makes his work unexpected. Bracey’s practice has developed from large-scale abstract paintings to this current use of familiar objects. The ordinary is extraordinary: in his older pieces the heads of nails and pistachio nut shells become the canvases for tiny artworks.

For Freianlage Bracey has developed further new ways of working, combining his paintings with film and exploring how ways of display affect how we view the work. Collaborating with his father, specific plinths and display methods have been designed for his Freianlage series that reflect ideas of zoo-designed habitats. Cardboard boxes, magnifying glasses and jam-jars become props to aid looking and add to the adventure of discovering Bracey’s paintings on wine glasses, doorstops and charcoal boxes.

Looking at the ways in which visitors moved around the zoo, Bracey related them to viewers in the art gallery. As such he has carefully positioned his paintings across rooms at the Minories to inspire new meanings and relationships within his work. Just like visiting the zoo, Bracey hopes viewers at firstsite will explore his own Freianlage, finding overlooked inclusions if they re-visit. Through Bracey’s work the experience of viewing becomes an active one and we are able to consider the way we encounter both artworks and animals.

	Andrew Bracey, Various Titles, 2004/5 11 February – 18 March 2006 Andrew Bracey Freianlage firstsite is delighted to present the first solo exhibition by emerging British artist Andrew Bracey. Freianlage brings together a new series with existing works, demonstrating how bodies of work seemingly overlap and inform one another. Freianlage is a German term meaning open enclosure. It was a phrase used by pioneering zoo-owner Carl Hagenbeck, who worked at the turn of the twentieth-century to make animal enclosures more akin to their natural environments. This model of presenting animals naturally continues to be used today and Bracey has created his recent work with it very much in mind: looking at parallels between the zoo and the art gallery his paintings surprise and enchant with their scale and invitation for further investigation. The artist’s new work has been influenced by a number of research trips to zoos, including Colchester Zoo. Bracey is a painter, but his method of painting on everyday found items on a miniature scale makes his work unexpected. Bracey’s practice has developed from large-scale abstract paintings to this current use of familiar objects. The ordinary is extraordinary: in his older pieces the heads of nails and pistachio nut shells become the canvases for tiny artworks. For Freianlage Bracey has developed further new ways of working, combining his paintings with film and exploring how ways of display affect how we view the work. Collaborating with his father, specific plinths and display methods have been designed for his Freianlage series that reflect ideas of zoo-designed habitats. Cardboard boxes, magnifying glasses and jam-jars become props to aid looking and add to the adventure of discovering Bracey’s paintings on wine glasses, doorstops and charcoal boxes. Looking at the ways in which visitors moved around the zoo, Bracey related them to viewers in the art gallery. As such he has carefully positioned his paintings across rooms at the Minories to inspire new meanings and relationships within his work. Just like visiting the zoo, Bracey hopes viewers at firstsite will explore his own Freianlage, finding overlooked inclusions if they re-visit. Through Bracey’s work the experience of viewing becomes an active one and we are able to consider the way we encounter both artworks and animals.