Richard Woods: Second Home

"On one of my first visits to Folkestone, as I walked up the high street from the harbour, I was given a small piece of paper. The note offered me a ‘quick cash sale on my house’. The simple statement made me think about who would be selling up their house and moving out of Folkestone; who maybe moving in; where would be a good place to buy a new home; and where you should avoid. It made me think also about whether second home ownership added to the housing problems in towns similar to Folkestone or whether it added to the life of the town and more broadly about immigration, wealth distribution and about a town’s natural population fluidity." (Richard Woods, 2017)

Chelsea Space presents Richard Woods: Second Home, an insight into the working practices of internationally renowned artist, Richard Woods. Woods practice of architectural, design and material interventions with graphic line and vibrant colour provide striking interruptions within a designated environment. This exhibition explores this practice through preparatory maquettes and drawings for the finished installation Holiday Home at the Folkestone Triennial 2017.

Identical in size and design, Holiday Home comprised of six ‘cartoon bungalows’, set down in Folkestone where you may not have expected to find a house - in the harbour, on a traffic roundabout, sinking into the pebbles on the beach.

Containing new sculptures, paintings and photography, this exhibition includes material charting the fabrication, installation and public reaction to Holiday Home exhibited at the 2017 Folkestone Triennial. The material exhibited in Second Home will provide a contemporary retrospective on the recent project, reinforcing some of the issues that Holiday Home activated, while creating ongoing discussion around this project and interpretations of public art in general.

British artist Richard Woods graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1990. His architectural interventions are chiefly concerned with the re-surfacing of existing structures, and they propose an absurd twist on the cult of home improvement and DIY aesthetics. Selected exhibitions and projects: ‘Holiday Home’, Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone (2017); ‘Building Landscapes’, David Risley Gallery, Denmark (2017); ‘Duckweave’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2016); Festival of Love, Southbank Centre, London (2015); ‘Inclosure Acts, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff (2015); ‘Country Life’, Albion Barn, Oxford (2015); ‘Post Pop: East meets West’, Saatchi Gallery, London (2014); Richard Woods, Alan Cristea Gallery, London (2013); Frieze Sculpture Park, London, (2013); ‘WRONGWOODS’, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2009); designed interior, Comme des Garçons’ flagship store, Osaka (2003); The Henry Moore Foundation Contemporary Projects, 50th International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2002); ‘Super Tudor’, Deitch Gallery, New York (2002). Richard Woods lives and works in London.

- Special thanks to Michael Iveson and Richard Woods Studio