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Guyan Porter

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Guyan Porter (born 1971, Aberdeen, Scotland) is a visual artist living in Sussex, England, and working internationally. His work encompasses installation, sculpture, painting, architectural and public interventions and studio-based work that explores 'the sociological and psychological foundations of belief'.[1] With a multi-disciplinary approach, his work is research led and has explored diverse subjects such as statistical data, democracy, early human categorisation and conflicts between internal and external authorities. Mixing traditional forms with processes of political engagement, Porter draws on conceptual and installation art while referencing pioneering social scientists such as Daniel Dennett and Stanley Milgram.

In 2001 he was a founding member and first President of the Scottish Artists Union, the first ever Trade Union for visual and applied artists in the United Kingdom.[2] [3]

Early life and education

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Guyan Porter was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1971. He went to the Aberdeen Grammar School before studying at the Gray's School of Art between 1989 and 1993, gaining a BA Honours in Fine Art and Sculpture.[4]

Porter set up his first studio in Glasgow in 1994,[5] [6] organising, exhibiting in and curating artist led projects and multi media arts events.[7]

Notable work

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In 1999 Porter organised an exhibition called Vault at The Arches in Glasgow, where the work of ten visual artists, musicians, DJs. performers and a classic ensemble was combined in a week of multi media events. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] In The Glaswegian, Porter explained: "We're bringing art, music and performance together in the unusual spaces the Arches give us."[17] [18] [19][20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

In the same year Porter carried out a residency in Russia as part of the Glasgow City Council Cultural Twinning Programme. Renowned Scottish Artist Ian Hughes said: "I have known Guyan and his work for over 15 years. We were both Glasgow District Council's artists-in-residence in Rostov-on-Don, Russia in 1999. Guyan is one of those rare artists who pursue their vision, despite the contemporary artistic vogue for cultivated superficiality, with ruthlessly focused intensity. He never shys away from the 'difficult', morally challenging themes of the human condition. Yet, all his artworks have a delicacy and beauty that shows redemption is possible through human creative self-analysis. His work is still as relevant today as it was 15 years ago. It will continue to be so"[25][26]

In 2002 he produced "Three Imaginary Views", a triptych of pressed steel disks, etched, and coated with lacquer, partially obscuring meteorological maps of the Arctic, referencing geo-political divisions of oceanic territories and causal relationships between oceanic pollution and increasing climate instability.[27][28]

In 2003 he began a series of paintings forming an installation of diagrammatic charts. Based on administrative diagrams the paintings would sample statistical information on behaviour, environment, life style, addiction, crime, politics and economic activity. "Genetic Stereotype" was first shown in 2014 in the Future Dreaming[29] exhibition, a multi media project exploring the impact of propaganda on individuals, communities and young adults facing the future.[30][31]

Gender Bender (2007) was a temporary public art project transforming a steel container into an 'alien art object'.[32] Painted in deep pink, the piece explored how identity and gender have been traditionally ascribed to objects, architecture, spaces and colour, and the way in which people have come to use these gendered descriptions.

In 2009 Porter and artist Will Foster showed - "Subject To Change Without Notice" - a project that; " temporarily transformed into publicly accessible centres for researching, reconsidering and re-presenting the enormity of small print and ambiguous text that floods contemporary society."[33] The project opened at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, for Glasgow International, and went on to create a series of exhibits and events at Akbank, Istanbul. The artist Banu Cennetoğlu held a conference on the themes of the work as part of the project. The exhibition was curated by Basak Senova.[33]

In 2016 he took part in the group exhibition The New Immortals at the Phoenix in Brighton. Porter's work, De Conditioning Chamber, was a participatory project comprising a pre-fabricated building housing an experimental device. Participants entered one at a time, experiencing 'an environment testing two human tendencies the Sussex-via-Glasgow artist takes particular interest in: deeply-held beliefs and mortality.'[34]

According to curator Sheila McGregor; "Systems of belief are central to the work of Guyan Porter, whose art takes place across a range of media in ways that respond to site and context.... , how secure is our understanding of where we have come from, let alone where we might be going to next? Like its companion piece, Porter’s De Conditioning Chamber, with its challenging message, seems designed to make us question the basis of what we know and what we believe."[35]

The exhibition included what Porter claimed was the only complete Neanderthal skull anywhere in the world.[34]

Politics and Activism

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Being involved in lobbying and campaigning on social and environmental issues from the early 1990s,[36] Porter was a founder member and first President of the Scottish Artists Union, the first ever Trade Union for visual and applied artists in the United Kingdom. [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] He was renowned for campaigning for artists and the arts. [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50]

As an artist Porter has made work in politicised contexts, such as with the piece; Sri Lanka Portraits. In an article by Kai-Oi Jay Yung, Porter said: "There must be more value lurking somewhere? ... the residency I did was complex." "...a war not really reported in the western press... has escalated dramatically." According to Yung: "Guyan Porter has been making connections throughout the world... travelling extensively ever since his 1998 residency to Russia. Travelling itself has become critical to understanding diverse art contexts and cultural settings, enabling him to explore unorthodox environments".[51] [52]

According to renowned cartoonist Terry Anderson: "Guyan is a passionate and articulate artist whose commitment to social justice is evident in his visual arts practice as well as activism." [53]

References

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  1. ^ "Information – Sheila McGregor". Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. ^ The Herald, Jim McLean. "Artists draw up first trade union".
  3. ^ The Herald - Artist to Exhibit Solidarity – Drawing up the First Trades Union, May, 2001
  4. ^ The Press And Journal - Sculpture Is Winner, 31 July 1992
  5. ^ Evening Times - Guyan Porter, 4 March 2006
  6. ^ "Guyan Porter".
  7. ^ AN - Compass - Article on artist led activities in Glasgow with review of Source Installation, August, 1997
  8. ^ Go Magazine - Vault - The Finest Example of Cross Media Work This Side of the Century, June, 1999
  9. ^ The Herald, Mary Brennan, 3 May 1999
  10. ^ The Evening Times, Club Scene - Art Review, April, 1999
  11. ^ Scotland on Sunday - Sorted for Art - A project by Guyan Porter, May, 1999
  12. ^ The Big Issue - Backbeat – Clubbing and Art Collide, May, 1999
  13. ^ Mary Brennan, The Herald, Vault, Who Goes There, May, 1999
  14. ^ The List - Art Preview – Images of Men Under Pressure At The End of a Century, April, 1999
  15. ^ The List Review - Vault at the Arches, April, 1999
  16. ^ The Evening Times, Club Scene - Art review, April, 1999
  17. ^ The Glaswegian - Down into the Vaults, March 2001
  18. ^ The Scotsman - Visual Arts – Party on Dudes, March, 2001
  19. ^ "The Herald, Vault Who goes there".[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ "The Herald, Underneath The Arches". 19 March 2001.
  21. ^ The List - Gallery Guide - A living, Breathing Hydra of an Installation, March, 2001
  22. ^ The Herald - Underneath the Arches – Music and Theatre as Radical Décor, March, 2001
  23. ^ The Big Issue - Backbeat – All Kinds of Everything, March, 2001
  24. ^ "AN, Vaulting the Gap, Susannah Thompson discusses 'Vault 2001' and considers the implications of visual arts programming within a multi-disciplinary venue, June, 2001".
  25. ^ Ian Hughes. LinkedIn, 5 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  26. ^ The Sunday Post - Two Scottish Artists In Russia, December, 1998
  27. ^ "Arctic Amplification – John Cook".
  28. ^ Processes and impacts of Arctic amplification: A research synthesis, 8 April 2011.
  29. ^ "Future Dreaming". Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  30. ^ "The Sussex Express - Contemporary Art Show Explores Recession". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  31. ^ "Where Event - Future Dreaming Exhibition". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  32. ^ Gender Bender on ArtSlant.com
  33. ^ a b "Information, Basak Senova". Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  34. ^ a b Ben Miller, 'The New Immortals', Brighton Source, 20 February 2016
  35. ^ "Information – Sheila McGregor".
  36. ^ Produced by the European Community Humanitarian Office and the British Red Cross. Funded by Philips International, Artists in Arms, 1998
  37. ^ "a m b i t : networking media arts in scotland, Meeting towards a grass-roots visual arts policy?".
  38. ^ "The Stage, Artists Vote of No Confidence for Creative Scotland, January, 2001".
  39. ^ The Herald - Artists see light at the end of the tramway, October, 2003
  40. ^ The Herald - Artists organise and work for change, 2001
  41. ^ Scottish Arts Council - An Artists Report, January, 2000
  42. ^ AN -Scottish Developments, February, 2000
  43. ^ AN - Effecting change - Article by Mark Dawes on the formation of the Scottish Artists Union, June, 2000
  44. ^ "BBC News - Pauline Mclean - Meeting The Minister - Guyan Led a massive campaign". 18 February 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  45. ^ "Axisweb, The New Bourgeoisie, December 2008". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  46. ^ "Itchy Fingers, Save Tramway". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  47. ^ "Rhinegold Magazine - New Minister?". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  48. ^ The Observer - Artists Fight to stop property prices forcing them out, April, 2000
  49. ^ AN - Cultural Strategy in Scotland - Scotland Endorses Culture, December, 2000
  50. ^ The Daily Express - Picasso and Van Gogh would be in support, May, 2001
  51. ^ "Kai-Oi Jay Yung - Guyan Porter Residency". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  52. ^ "AN, Portraits, Sri Lanka". Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  53. ^ Terry Anderson. LinkedIn, 7 May 2010
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