'Black Pudding' a solo show by Richard Gasper

Vitrine is delighted to present ‘Black Pudding’, a solo exhibition of works by London based artist Richard Gasper, for the inaugural exhibition at its new Vitrine Bermondsey Street gallery.

The exhibition comprises new works and works produced during the artist’s tenure of the Sainsbury Scholarship in Rome. Combining sculpture, wall reliefs and print, the work is derived from the idea of the male body and the notion of identity manifested in altered, disrupted, ruptured or rearranged states.

The work of Gasper is driven by his etymological understanding of the term 'Baroque', which alludes to a rough or imperfect pearl. For Gasper this misshapen pearl is representative of a dystopian vision, which speaks of warped bourgeois ideals and distorted aspiration. Currently working with materials such as resin, mirrored Plexiglas and polished metals, Gasper's work is both alluringly seductive and undercut by an edgier, less cohesive aesthetic.

Exploring the contradictions central to the body and our relationship to it, Gasper considers growth and the attainment of perfection through deconstruction, interruption and the use of unexpected contexts. As Francis Bacon’s placement of an abject body into a clean sanitized illusionary interior or Paul Thek’s abject wax replicas of bodily flesh are housed within, and serve to activate, a clean minimal design Perspex container, Gasper uneasily reminds us of the body and bodily function within a sterile arena.

Gasper will be exhibited concurrently at Vitrine Bermondsey Square, established in 2010, where he will produce an ambitious print installation. A response in part to the nature of the space, a 16 metre long window with exhibitions viewable 24-hours a day, Gasper’s bold black and white images will transform the space.

Richard Gasper lives and works in London. He graduated from Slade School of Art in 2005 followed by an MA from Royal College of Art in 2007. He was resident at The British School at Rome, awarded the Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting and Sculpture, between 2010 and 2011. Exhibitions include: Smeared With The Gold of The Opulent Sun, The Nomas Foundation, Rome, Italy (2012); Ruby, Curated by Eddie Peake, Gallery Vela, London (2012); Apocalipstix, The Nunnery, Bow Arts Trust, London (2011); Mortars at Dawn: survey of emerging artists, Leroy House with Carter Presents (2010) and Uber-Flux, Take Courage Project Space, New Cross (2008). He has received a number of awards including Celeste Painting Prize (2007) and his work has appeared in art fairs and private collections internationally.