Paul P Priestley (“Peep” to his friends) is one of the greatest artists working in the UK today. If you haven’t heard of him, this is not surprising: he does not court art market attention, works primarily for his own satisfaction, and his work has mainly been seen only by those lucky enough to stumble upon his small but crowded workspace within Sheffield’s BLOC studios. Inside, it is like something from the cabinet of Jan Svankmajer: deformed and cross-bred dolls and other toys form intricate tableaux and, if you are lucky enough to visit when there is enough sunlight to feed his creations’ solar panels, they come alive and move around the studio. But although on the surface his creations could be seen as dark toys and curious distractions, they are the outward signs of a vigorous intelligence, part of a body of work which (along with his series of anthropomorphised churches) seeks answers to recurring questions about the role of religion within the power structures of modern life.
His latest show, his first at BLOCspace, opens on Friday 1st December and continues until Sunday 17th December. The gallery’s website describes the show thus:
P. P. Priestley’s inaugural exhibition at Bloc fills both the gallery and the outside courtyard. His large-scale sculptures of anthropomorphised churches function as elegant formal sculptures, whilst simultaneously constituting the elements of an installation that presents a carefully constructed narrative. Left as basic wooden frames, these personifications of the Christian Church are stripped bare of their function and exterior trappings and appear to perform deviant acts. One lays crumpled in a heap in the gallery while another appears to be trying to climb the gallery wall. Priestley's smaller works, constructed from parts of dolls and model animals, are presented in sometimes disturbing tableaux, juxtapose sado-masochistic, religious and bestial imagery.
Priestley's use of automata has been prevalent in his work for a number of years. Using DIY mechanics he creates kinetic sculptures that often use solar power as an energy source. His sculptures contain archetypal and symbolic imagery: angels, winged horses, cherubs and demons. “Most of the work depends on what materials I can find to recycle at the time”, he says. “I’ve used windmills, waterwheels, bicycle pumps and hand-cranked generators – all my materials are things that other people have thrown away”.
FAD caught up with Peep on the eve of his show’s opening, and asked a few questions. Below are his answers (and a few from his technicians Brodie and Nick, who wandered in and out during the course of the interview): (more…)
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