Sophy Rickett

Sophy Rickett (born London 1970) is a visual artist, working with photography and video/sound installation.

Her work explores the competing forces of light and darkness in defining and articulating space, often using photography as a way of exploring the distinction between seeing and looking. She is interested in the tension between the abstract possibilities and narrative tendencies of photography and film/video. Made mainly at night, and often in peripheral or mundane environments, her work ponders the potential of photography to conceal as much as reveal. In both colour and black and white, her photographs cohere around strong formal properties, and are often minimal in character, playing on the latent narrative possibilities of place.

Sophy Rickett’s work came to prominence in the late 90s, following her graduation from The Royal College of Art, London. She has exhibited widely; selected solo shows include Ffotogallery, Cardiff; De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea; Alberto Peola, Turin, Italy; Nichido Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan; Centre pour L’image Contemporain Saint-Gervais, Switzerland and Emily Tsingou, London.

Selected group exhibitions include: New Photography in Britain, Galleria Civica[1], Modena, Italy; Les Peintres de la Vie Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Fotografierte Landschaften, Museum der bildenden Künste[2] Leipzig, Germany; Night, Royal West of England Academy, Bath, UK; Order and Chaos, Fotomuseum Winterthur[3], Switzerland, and Where are We?, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

In 2002, she was awarded the Arts Council of England Helen Chadwick Fellowship which was co-hosted by Ruskin School, Oxford UK and the British School at Rome, Italy.

In 2007, having been commissioned by Photoworks[4] and Glyndebourne Opera[5], she produced her first major film installation Auditorium, in collaboration with the composer Ed Hughes.

Rickett’s work is included in the following collections: Pompidou, Paris, France; Government Art Collection, UK; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, Nantes, France; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Commissions include Mont Blanc and BMW. Published monographs include Photoworks/ Steidl[6] in 2005 and Emily Tsingou Gallery in 2001. She lives and works in London, and is Reader in Photography at the University of Derby.

Education

1997-1999 – MA Fine Art Photography, Royal College of Art, London

1990-1993 – BA (Hons) Photography, London College of Printing, London

Selected Individual Exhibitions

2009 – Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

2008 – Auditorium + recent photoworks; Ffotogallery Cardiff, UK

Alberto Peola, Turin, Italy

2007 – Auditorium, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, UK (part of Triple Echo season)

2005 – Emily Tsingou Gallery, London

2004 – Alberto Peola, Turin, Italy

2003 – Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

‘Viva Roma’ – A special commission of the British Council, Rome, Italy.

Centre pour l'image contemporain Saint-Gervais, Geneva, Switzerland

Emily Tsingou Gallery, London, UK

Alberto Peola, Turin, Italy

RENN Art Gallery, Paris, France

2001 – Emily Tsingou Gallery, London, UK

DCA, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, UK

1999 – Emily Tsingou Gallery, London, UK

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008 – New Photography in Britain, Galleria Civica, Modena, Italy

Night, Royal West of England Academy, Bath, UK

2007 – Les Peintres de la Vie Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Fotografierte Landschaften, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig Germany

Ten Years, Emily Tsingou Gallery, London UK

Mirror, Mirror, Jerwood Space, London UK

2006 – Responding to Rome, Estorick Collection, London, UK

Il Potere Delle Donne, Il Museo di Trento, Italy

Identity III, Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

La Donna Oggetto – Miti e Metamorfosi al Femminile 1900 – 2005, Castello Sforzesco, Vigevano, Italy (A cura di Luca Beatrice)

Contemporart, Piccolo Miglio in Castello, Biennale Internazionale de Fotografia di Brescia, Italy

2005 – Autowerke, Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig, Germany

2004 – Everything’s Gone Green: Photography and the Garden, National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, Bradford, UK

2003 – Order & Chaos, Fotomuseum Winterthur (cur. Urs Stahel), Winterthur, Switzerland

Identity, Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan

Flock, Spacex Gallery, Exeter, UK.

2002 – Its only Words, London College of Printing, The London Institute, London, UK

2001 – Where Are We?, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

A Night on Earth, (cur. R. Christofori) Kunsthalle Münster, Münster, Germany

The Fantastic Recurrence of Certain Situations, (cur. Kate Bush), Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain

1999 – Common People: British Art from Phenomenon to Reality, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo per l’Arte, Guarene, Italy

Evidence of Existence, The Bracknell Gallery, South Hill Park Arts Centre, UK

Near and Elsewhere, The Photographers Gallery, London, UK

Evidence of Existence, Kunstraum Siegert, Basel, Switzerland

The Garden of Eros, Institute Verreina, Barcelona, Spain

Group Show, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, Belgium

Tendance, Abbaye Saint-André Centre d’Art Contemporain, Meymac, France

Word Enough to Take A Life, Word Enough to Save A Life, London, UK

Mayday, CAN, Neuchatel, Switzerland

River Deep, Mountain High, Gallery Westland Place, London; University of Dundee, Scotland

1998 – Remix, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France

The Road, Beauvais, France

New Contemporaries 98, Tea Factory, Liverpool, UK; Camden Arts Centre, London, UK;

Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, UK

Critical Distance, Andrew Mummery Gallery, London, UK

Plastic Metropolis and Inventories, Shoreditch Biennial, London, UK

Host, Tramway, Glasgow, UK

On the Bright Side of Life, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin, Germany

1997 – Little Boxes, Cambridge Darkroom Gallery, Cambridge, UK

Contemporary British Photography, NGBK, Berlin, Germany

Public Relations: New British Photography, Stadthaus, Ulm, Germany

1996 – Silent/Still, (c.Peter Lewis), London Calling @ Arch 53, London, UK

Spatial Penetration, artists collaboration, Galatasaray, Berlin, Germany

Stadtluft, Architektenkammer, Berlin, Germany

Flag, Clink Street Wharf, London, UK

Euthanasia, Plummet, London, UK

1995 – Stream, Plummet, London, UK

Selected Film Screenings

2008 – Auditorium; Birds Eye Film Festival, Tate Britain and Prince Charles Cinema

Selected Reviews and Articles

2008 – Le quinte del teatro: Richerche di Sophy Rickett, La Stampa 03/10/08

Auditorium: Sophy Rickett alla Alberto Peola, ARTKEY http://www.teknemedia.net 27/10/08

Auditorium: Ffotogallery; Jean Wainwright, Hotshoe International June-July 08

2007 – Opera and Video, Chris Townsend, Art Monthly, Dec – Jan 07-08

Mirror Mirror, M. Coomer, Time Out, January

The Language of Flowers, http://www.criticaldictionary.com, Issue 13, July 2007

2006 – Show Time, POL Oxygen Magazine

Andrew Wilson, Sophy Rickett, FotoMuseum Antwerp magazine

Bookmark Review – Sophy Rickett: A New Photoworks Monograph, Pluk, Issue 27, Nov-Dec

2005 – Darien Leader, Sophy Rickett, Portfolio, June

M. Herbert, Sophy Rickett, Time Out, June

2004 – Ines Rae, More Plant Matters, Source 39, Summer

2003 – Rob Tufnell, Rickett, Boiler, No. 2

Photoshock, Arte, May

Laura Piccinini, Scuola Britannica su sfondo romano, Amica, May

Barry Schwabsky, Review, Artforum, May

Katie Kitamura, Review, Contemporary, no. 49

Marguerite Menz, Review, Kunst-Bulletin, March

Clare Manchester, Review, Art Monthly, March

Sophy Rickett, The Times, February 8

Review, The Art Newspaper, February

Elisabeth Chardon, Sophy Rickett dessine les paysages avec l’eclairage urbain, Le Temps, February 20

En bref: Les Frasques de Motti et une jeune Anglaise, Le Courier, January 25

Francoise Jaunin, Lumieres d’ombre, 24heures, February 19

Schweizer Ausstellungen: Hinter dem Sichtbaren, Neue Zuercher Zeitung, February 8

Emmanuel Grandjean, Et Sophy Rickett travaille de nuit, Tribune de Geneve, January 24

2001 – Stefano Ricci, Review, Tema Celeste, March-June

Olga Gambari, Review, Arte e Critica, April-September

Piu che la luce spicaa il buio, La Stampa, March 22

2001 – Izi Glover, Sophy Rickett, DCA Review, Frieze, July

Oral History of British Photography, interview with Martin Barnes, The British Library, November

Roy Exley, Review, Flash Art, July- September

Rob Tufnell, Sophy Rickett, Yellow Tree, Portfolio, June

Sophy Rickett, Review, The Independent on Sunday, April 1

Urban Nights, The Guardian Guide, March 24

Annette Rubery, Urban Nights, Metro Life-Evening Standard, March

Giles Sutherland, Around the Galleries, Dundee, The Times, February 22

Neil Cameron, Telling Tales in the Dark, The Scotsman, February 13

2000 – Chris Townsend, Sophy Rickett, Hotshoe, March/April

1999 – Julia Thrift, Sophy Rickett, Time Out, December

Niru Ratnam, Talent Front, Scene, December

Dave Beech, Review, Art Monthly, December

Polly Staple, Pick of the Galleries, The Independent on Sunday, November 21

Stuart Shave, i-Do: Night Vision, i-D, December

Dealers Gazette, The Art Newspaper, No. 97, November

What’s On, The Guardian/Space, The Guardian, November 4

Near and Elsewhere-Review, Circa, issue 89, Autumn

Kieron Corliss, Review, Pill, issue 4, Made in London, July-August

Photography, Zoo, October

1998 – Arielle Pelenc & Simon Morrissey, Remix (exh.cat)

New Contemporaries-Review, The Times, July 18

New Contemporaries-Review, The Guardian, July 7

Martin Herbert, Critical Distance, Time Out, July 8

Simon Morrissey, Amnesia, Contemporary Visual Arts, April

1997 – Val Williams, Zeitgenössische Britische Fotorafie, catalogue

Thomas Seelig, Public Relations catalogue

Surface, Booth Cibborn Editions

Mark Currah, Flag, Time Out, May 29

Interview and work featured in Creative Camera, April

1996 – No Young Brits at Flag, Flash Art, Vol. XXIX, No.188

Dieter Wulf, Kunst im Rohbau, Wochenreport (Berlin)

Val Williams, Stream, Creative Camera, February

Pauline van Mourik Broekman, Contemporary Flaneures, Mute, Winter

1995 – Tania Guha, Stream, Time Out, December 18th

Publications and Catalogues

2008 – New British Photography, Skira, Italy

2006 – Vitamin PH, Phaidon, London ISBN 10 07148-4656-2

Les Peintres de la Vie Moderne, Editions du Centre Pompidou, Paris ISBN 2-84426-316-X

2005 – Sophy Rickett (Monograph), Steidl / Photoworks ISBN 3–86521–088–0

2004 – ed. Klanten, R. Ehmann, S. Meyer, B., Wonderland, Die Gestalten Verlag

2003 – ed. Urs Stahel, Order & Chaos, Fotomuseum Winterthur/Christoph Merian Verlag

2001 – Kate Bush, The Fantastic Recurrence of Certain Situations, Communidad de Madrid, Spain

ed. by Graham Gussin and Ele Carpenter, Nothing, August and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, UK

Photographs, Emily Tsingou Gallery, London

1999 – F.Bonami, Common People: Arte Inglese tra Fenomeno e Realtà, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudenco per l’Arte, Italy

Jardin de Eros, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, Spain

1998 – New Contemporaries 98, New Contemporaries Ltd, UK

Remix, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, France

On the Bright side of Life, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin, Germany

1997 – Public Relations-New British Photography, Cantz, Germany

Awards and Commissions

2008 – Recipient of Development Grant, Film and Video Umbrella, UK

Recipient of Excellence Award, University of Derby, UK

2006 – Recipient of Research Award, (worth £15,000) Arts and Humanities Research Council

2004 – Recipient of Individual Artists Award, Arts Council, England

2003 – Recipient of Mont Blanc Cutting Edge Award to Artists

2002 – Fellowship at St Johns College, Oxford

2002 – Arts Council of England, Helen Chadwick Fellowship, hosted by The British School at Rome / Ruskin School, Oxford

2000 – Fellowship at DCA, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, UK

Artist in residence, Grizedale Sculpture Park, Grizedale, UK

Recipient of The Woo Charitable Foundation Prize, UK

1999 – BMW Financial Services Millennium Commission in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Major Collections

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaundengo, Guarene, Italy

FSA, London, UK

Goldman Sachs, London, UK

Government Art Collection, UK

McManus Galleries, Dundee, UK

Merril Lynch, London, UK

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, Nantes, France

Museum of Visual Arts, Leipzig, Germany

Pompidou, Paris, France

Texas Pacific Group Collection, UK

Tower Place Development, London, UK

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Windsor GmbH, Germany

Worcester City Art Gallery, Worcester, UK

Reference

Galleria Alberto Peola, Torino, Italy - Gallery homepage http://www.albertopeola.com/eng/homepage_eng.htm
Ffotogallery webpage http://www.ffotogallery.org/exhibition.php?ex_id=331&p=
De La Warr Pavilion webpage http://www.dlwp.com/WhatsOn/ExhibitionDetail.aspx?EventId=4701
Glyndebourne opera webpage http://www.glyndebourne.com/education/new_work/education_photoperative/

External links