Art Portal

About me:

Installations & Interventions, The Work of Artist TOM ESTES

















Born outside of Boston in The U.S.A, Artist Tom Estes moved to Paris and lived there for a couple of years before settling in London. Light painter, multimedia artist, photographer and videographer, curator and founder of The Posthumanproject, creator of multi-media performance & installation, Estes regularly shows work in commerical spaces and so his work work can be found in a number of small private and public collections. As well as having displayed in public art galleries such as The Lethaby Gallery, The Whitechapel and The Tate Modern, the mainstay of Estes' practice has been his more ephemeral installations and inverventions often found in offbeat spaces or outside of the walls of the Gallery.
















The next screening Tom Estes' work 'STORM' will take place on Thu 29 Oct, 2009 at Whitechapel Art Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, London E1. Nearest tube: Aldgate East, Screenings are FREE To book a place call: 020 7522 7888 / tickets@whitchapel.org www.whitechapel.org




You can read a review of Tom Estes' latest work 'STORM' at:
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/whitechapel-art-gallery-london





















Estes' past work has been exhibited widely. Best known for his work in video, some notable exceptions have been his pieces comprised of 'found objects'. Recently Estes has managed to fuse together these two strands in his work, creating a happy marriage of mediums. Often considered irreverent and sometimes oblique, Estes' diverse body of work always has a thoughtful and provocative quality.

Tom Estes has a degree in Fine Art from the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design as well as a professional qualification in Video Production from the leading awarding body in The United Kingdom, City & Guilds.

from EXODUS series by Tom Estes, 2009











Tom ESTES' work has been described as "darkly disturbing & hauntingly beautiful". While Estes sets out to put the resolution of his practice into inventions and fabrications, he playfully and irreverently tweaks the politics of display. His practice is a reflection of a "terrible lie" told in his youth. This lie, and its effects have remained unknown, but Estes' remorse has painted them in the cruelest possible colors. This tale is the product, no doubt, of a false shame and presents a life-time of self inflicted memory and undying remorse. However, this 'terrible crime' represents the state of mind of a child living with a moment of irresponsible folly.






















As an artist Tom Estes is interested in the role of Anthropology in the study of human behaviour. Most scholars consider modern Anthropology as the study of the 'other' and as an outgrowth of the Age of Enlightenment and the first European colonization wave. In his practice Estes reverses this relationship, turning the anthropological eye and placing particular emphasis on the perspective and impact of long-term, experiential immersion, often known as 'participant-observation'.











Video Work 'Annunciation' by Tom Estes









Estes' area of research is based on issues surrounding longing and desire, and so often intermingles elements of personal stories with wider historical and social narratives. The work is comprised mainly of objects and social rituals 'found' in Western Society but through a playful and irreverent tweaking of the politics of display, creates slight shifts in perception. The work thereby suggests that fantasy and illusion are not contradictions of reality, but instead an integral part of our everyday lives.















Early Video Work




Still from video ARCHIVE FEVER by Tom Estes


Tom Estes' video work ‘Archive Fever’, engages in the obsessive and electric intensity of attraction-unto negligence within a luminous atmosphere of inventive magic. Wry, touching and finely rendered, yet reminiscent of degenerates and suspicious characters, the work charts the sensuous and unbelievable strangeness of intimacy against a backdrop of urban alienation.

291 Film and Video




Tom Estes' work ARCHIVE FEVER was created for The Nation Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Permanent Collection of Central St. Martins College of Art & Design. The work is shown alongside the work of Humphrey Jennings, who is listed by Cambridge University Press as one of the 'Heroes of Invention; Technology, Liberalism and British Identity 1750–1914'



(http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521873703&ss=ind).

"The 291 Gallery in London is hold a screening of Humphrey Jennings' Listen to Britain as part of Take 291, a continuing showcase for experimental, underground and avant-garde artists' film. The exhibition is to be held Thursday 25th August at 291 Gallery, 291 Hackney Rd, London, E2 8NA, will also include work from Oliver Hockenhull, SHIFFT, Renata Kudlacek and Jacqueline Forzelius."



291 Gallery present a regular evening of experimental, underground and avant-garde film from emerging and established artists every Thursday in June beginning the 9th. "Take 291 is a weekly showcase of both emerging and established film artists which will be followed by a screening of a 'classic' artists film. The event will also feature a discussion where filmmakers can discuss their films with the audience and each other, both during and after the film screenings. We hope to generate interaction and enthusiasm between experimental filmmakers in London and beyond. All suggestions from artists and curators for how Take 291 could evolve are very welcome."

"291 Gallery, Thursday 9th June 2005. Screening from 7.30pm Entry: £2."

Curated by Charlie Phillips (from Channel 4’s FourDocs)



The 291 Gallery

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/news/news=340





ARCHIVE FEVER projected against graffiti at RVC exhibition 'Lust & Luxuria'









Still from BAKE'IN as shown at exhibition 'DIRECTIONS' The Lethaby Gallery, Southampton Row London WC1B 4AP

Awarded full registered museum status in 2001, the Lethaby Gallery and the Museum and Contemporary Collection house an exceptional range of artworks and artefacts reflecting the distinguished history and present of the creative industries. With an active policy of collecting work, supported by a consistently engaging programme of exhibitions and events, the collection offers a unique view of leading lights in the creative industries.

An online database provides browsers with further information on the history of the collection, biographies of artists represented in the collection, as well as information and images on specific items dating from the 15th to the 21st century and themed exhibitions and changing perspectives and methods of artistic practice.









Some recent exhibitions...


2009

Open Screening at Whitechapel Art Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, London E1. www.whitechapel.org

'Kill No More Pigeons Than You Can Eat', The Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven Street London Wc2N 5NF

2008

Lost Girls (found objects), NO:ID Gallery

Lust and Luxuria, The Whitechapel Art Gallery

Lunacy in the Leap Year, The Whitechapel Art Gallery

Imperial Works, The Seven Sisters Gallery

2007

Annual Members Exhibition, The Arts Club

Prestalgia: A Pre-mourn of the Love Letter, The Red Velvet Curtain Cult @ The Whitechapel Gallery

OUTSIDER: hosted by Bob and Roberta Smith, The Whitechapel

Salon 07 Matt Roberts Arts at The Seven Seven Gallery

2006
http://www.salon09.co.uk/
http://www.sevenseven.org.uk/

Lost and Foundlings’, 491 Gallery

Bangkok Film Festival

2005

Take 291’, 291 Gallery

2004

Museums Are Romantic Meeting Places’, The Globe Centre

Living London, The International Society

2003

Directions, The Letheby Gallery, Southhampton Row

http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/csm_lethaby.htm

2002

Cafe Gallery Projects’, The Southwark Park Gallery
http://www.cafegalleryprojects.com/
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-179425316.html

2000

The Posthuman Project’, Waterloo Action
http://www.inse1.co.uk/issues/inSE1-23.pdf
1999

Bankside Browser, Tate Modern
http://www.tate.org.uk/about/pressoffice/pressreleases/tatemodern.htm
http://www.art-omma.org/NEW/issue10/text/theory/10_Bankside%20Browser.htm