Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Lincoln
Morphism
Context
'Morfizm' was a retrospective exhibition of Cherry’s creative output on the theme of artistic metamorphosis over a period of four years. He was one of only two invited artists to mount solo exhibitions as part of the internationally significant annual Legnica Festival of Silver organized by Galeria Stuki, the cultural arm of the city council of Legnica, and supported by city, regional, and national government funding. Normally up to three solo artists are invited, international jewellery schools are featured, and the finalists in the annual Legnica Design Competition are exhibited.
Research resides within the longitudinal study of mutation and mutability in jewellery art. He studied the phenomenon of motifs and symbols which change significantly from project to project, which appear to have their own individuality and limits, but which with the benefit of post hoc rationalization are recognised as having influenced and been influenced by each other’s own development. This research was carried out in the studio as research-in-practice, through internet search and extensive use of library material. The understanding and manipulation of resistant materials were key to this study.
Insights
The retrospective was the culmination of three previous exhibitions:
2007 – 'Deconstructed – Reconstructed', Galeria Shibuichi, Oporto, Portugal
2008 – 'Isomorphs' – Galeria Hipotesi, Barcelona, Spain
2009 – 'Isomorphs – New Mutations, Alternatives' Gallery for Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy.
Interrogating the themes of the first three offered insight into this process of mutability and presented the opportunity to research the theme further. Parallels are drawn in the catalogue essay with the phenomenon of Morphism in biology and mathematics.
The research was shared via the exhibition itself, viewed by several thousand people over the six week period of the Festival and through publication and dissemination of the catalogue, approximately 500 copies printed and distributed.