C F Sherratt is a multidisciplinary artist based in Bristol. His work has spanned from fine art practice to commercial illustration, animation and video, as well as musical and sound-based work. After completing an MA in Authorial Illustration at Falmouth University in 2015, he has worked for clients all over the world, received awards and featured in solo and group shows displaying his work.
Talking about what he has planned for TU : PLEI, C F Sherratt says:
The drawing I am showing in TU : PLEI is an experimental drawing which shares some themes visually with previous work, but was made using a process which was new to me, inspired by work I’ve done in the past which involves generative processes, often to create text, I allowed people to anonymously contribute to the work in the form of a short phrase, an image, a subject. I didn’t share the process during any of these interactions, so that the contributors wouldn’t know how their idea would be used or incorporated. All this I did as an act of mischief, an element of play which I have always admired in the art of others, a bit like the exquisite corpse, but resulting in a work with more visual continuity.
The other work I’ll be showing has a clear visual through-line, but was made prior to the exhibition’s conception. There is, however, certainly an element of play to the processes I often use to make my work. Like how children draw before they’re ‘taught’ to make art, I don’t tend to make preparatory sketches, look at a reference image or look at a subject. I admire the work of artists like Brecht Evens and Anna Bhushan, who go into the blank drawing page and start to make a drawing with the final materials, with no preconceptions, allowing the hand to ‘find’ the drawing.
Exhibiting artists:
Hannah Mathison
CF Sherratt
John Stadnicki
TU : PLEI is an invitation to engage with the ludic self then to share the experience with others.
TU : PLEI is an art exhibition which brings together drawing, painting, photography, collage, prints, sculpture, installation and montage from artists with a perceptive and individual interpretation on contemporary playfulness.
The exhibition TU : PLEI will be open 20-25 July 2021 at Stroud Brewery, 9am-5pm.
While writing Buried Gods Metal Prophets I often looked back at my childhood games and wondered what they meant then, whether time has given them a different meaning or not. It might have. But surely when the Guillemot Press editors worked on the manuscript, there were moments when my siblings’ chasing in the backyard or ‘soldier-soldier’-game felt untouched and sacred. Precious and private.
At first, sacred to me, later just sweet reminders that childhood play and joy are universal experiences. A child’s laughter and falls and bruises and tears have a collective ‘sameness’ yet our experiences give them unique meaning. A bit like different interpretations of what ‘freedom’ and ‘enjoyment’ are all about. A bit like what being human is all about. After all, war and tragedy, love and disappointment, growth, learning, failure and success are human experiences that repeat themselves despite topological or temporal differences.
Alongside the artwork, I will be reading from Buried Gods Metal Prophets on Thursday 22nd July 6pm. FREE entry! All welcome!
Buried Gods Metal Prophets is published by the Guillemot Press, edited by Luke Thompson and Sarah Cave.
Illustrations and design: Antonia Glücksman.
The book is available here.
© Maria Stadnicka, July 2021
Maria Stadnicka 