格里‧韦伯

格里.韦伯1973年生于英国多塞特,曾就读伦敦金匠学院,一直在伦敦生活及工作。

韦伯是英国著名雕塑家,以合成艺术见称,善于将各种物品分类整理并组成抽象造型。他采用的物料可谓五花八门,从木块、钢铁、石头,以至罕有使用的对象如有机玻璃、钢化玻璃、霓虹灯甚至声音等都可出现在他的作品中。作品《无稽之谈》(2001),其名称是一个用来形容荒诞故事的用语;确实,每当观众尝试解读其作品也只得无稽的同感。作品的个别元素(包括题目)与观众的个人记忆互动后都可以产生这个效果。然而,这些只是意义上的提示,却并非寓言性的符号。

在一次访问里,韦伯曾经这样形容他的创作过程:「物料并不是主导者,而是提供者。一件环环相扣的合成作品─塑料与木块并列,玻璃放在金属之上,各部份均合为一体─我从来不会视物料为物料那么简单。我认为物料本身和它的视觉外观有着很大分别,而物料的使用亦非常直接。所有物料都是现成的,你只需要把它们分类选用。物料或聚或合,也是依据创作者某些预期效果而成…其后,它们仿似骨肉相连,物料也就被提升至较高的艺术层次。某程度上,这可能关系到一个形状或形体的创造,但我从不会在脑海中认定某些东西。我喜欢保持种种的可能性。」

韦伯曾在英国本土及海外举行个展,包括波度拉美画廊 (纽约,美国,2009及2006);阿普洛奇画廊 (伦敦,2008,2003及1998);「出口」(爱马仕工作室,首尔,韩国,2008);「Deep Heat T Reg Laguna」 (奇森海尔画廊,伦敦,2004)等。主要联展包括:「说真的」(南锡美术馆,法国,2005);英国艺术展VI (波罗的当代艺术中心,盖茨赫德,英国,2005);「核战争」(德累斯顿美术馆,德国,2004);「只是一个幻觉」(苏黎世当代美术馆,瑞士,2004);里昂当代艺术双年展(法国,2003);及「一天清早」(白教堂画廊,伦敦,2002)。

Gary Webb

Gary Webb was born in 1973 in Dorset, UK. He studied at Goldsmiths College in London, where he continues to live and work.

Webb is a British sculptor known for his assemblages in which he constructs abstract forms by arranging an assortment of objects. He works with a wide range of materials, such as wood, steel and stone to the more unusual perspex, steel glass, neon, and sound. The title of the work Cock and Bull (2001) may refer to the expression once commonly used to describe a ridiculous story and any attempt to read narrative into this work would be just that. The personal memory or relevance attached to individual elements in the work and even the title contributes to the impact, but as suggestions of meaning rather than allegorical signifiers.

In an interview, Webb once described his work methods: “the materials are not the leaders, they are the suppliers. A piece is so tightly assembled— the plastic next to a piece of wood, the glass on the metal, the whole thing together— that I never really think of them as simply materials. I think of the material and the visual appearance as being very different and used in a very direct way. The materials are all there already and you need to somehow sort them out. They are put together for the reason of making them work, or not work… When combined they seem to generate a sort of stubbornness, the material has been pushed to a glorious level. I suppose in some ways this relates to the way a shape or form is made, but I never want to fix things in my mind. I like to keep the possibilities.”

Gary Webb has exhibited in solo shows both in the UK and internationally including: Bortolami Gallery, New York, USA in 2009 and 2006; The Approach, London, 2008, 2003, and 1998; Export, Atelier Hermes, Seoul, Korea, 2008 and Deep Heat T Reg Laguna, Chisenhale Gallery, London, 2004. Selected group shows include: Pour de Vrai, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, France, 2005; the British Art Show 6, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK, 2005; ATOMKRIEG, Kunsthaus, Dresden, Germany, 2004; It’s All an Illusion, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland, 2004; Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, France, 2003; Early One Morning, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 2002.