Research

Overview

Powell’s specialist area of research is concerned with sculpture and the linguistic turn in creative arts since the crisis of Modernism; as a senior academic and chief programmer for the NUA Gallery he works regularly with national bodies such as the Arts Council Collections and Hayward Gallery at Southbank in London. Powell was involved the selection of the Hayward Open Curatorial 2014-15 and is closely involved with the organisation and delivery of the forthcoming British Art Show – BAS8 – in 2016, a major Hayward Touring Exhibition.

Visible collaborations over the past decade include work with , London on a show of Roger Ackling’s work, and the ‘Washi’ exhibition with Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture; other high profile projects include work with P and Art & Language, (‘The Artist Out of Work’, PS1, Museum of Modern Art, New York 2000). Powell has also programmed and curated shows by artists as diverse as Michael Craig-Martin, , Avis Newman, Coracle Press, Lawrence Weiner, Alfredo Jaar, and the late Ian Hamilton Finlay; the latter’s works formed part of the successful exhibition ‘Spectre at the Feast’, curated by Powell in New York City. He is currently working on number of shows for 2015 including the origination of a touring exhibition of the works of textile artist John Craske in collaboration with the author and Aldeburgh Festival.

Visible collaborations over the past decade include work with Annely Juda Gallery, London on a show of Roger Ackling’s work, and the ‘Washi’ exhibition with Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture; other high profile projects include work with Professor Michael Corris and Art & Language, (‘The Artist Out of Work’, PS1, Museum of Modern Art, New York 2000). Powell has also programmed and curated shows by artists as diverse as Michael Craig-Martin, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Avis Newman, Coracle Press, Lawrence Weiner, Alfredo Jaar, and the late Ian Hamilton Finlay; the latter’s works formed part of the successful exhibition ‘Spectre at the Feast’, curated by Powell in New York City. He is currently working on number of exhibitions for 2015 including a touring exhibition of the works of embroiderer John Craske -this in collaboration with the renowned author Julia Blackburn – for Aldeburgh Festival 2015.

Powell’s research incorporates a varied range of materials and idioms, from objects through to printed matter, and he is currently working on a number of projects and scholarly papers; including: ‘Dead and Disorderly: the artist out of time’. This paper looks at works by artists, designers and writers whose oeuvre has confronted the unimaginable, unpalatable and fugitive spectre of death and its associated aesthetics. through this research Powell is expanding on previous public lectures on the works of Jake and Dinos Chapman, whilst referring into sources as diverse as James Lee Byars, IDEO and Dante’s ‘Nine Circles of Hell’.

Powell’s inclusion on UbuWeb, and articles for the contemporary Italian arts magazine ‘not apARTheid’‚ continue to provide Powell with the continued stimulus and outlets for sharing thoughts around contemporary and historical creative practice.

In 2012, Powell’s ‘Manifesto: ART War ‘L’arte come carburante per la Protesta’ formed part of the CAM Art-War project (with Antonio Manfredi) and appeared in dOCUMENTA (13) at Kassel, Germany, whilst in 2011, Powell and Brown’s ‘Absence-Presence’ project was selected for inclusion in the Wales Arts International publication to accompany the 54e Biennale di Veneziain Venice, Italy

In June 2011, Powell was invited by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture (SISJAC) to deliver the Sasakawa-Sainsbury Lecture on the Japanese social arts movement, Mono Ha (School of Things). Powell’s sculptural and written works taken in totality are an attempt to unravel and understand the linguistic turn in creative arts from the mid 20th Century onwards, and of special interest are areas such as Concrete Poetry, Sculpture – in all its guises, and the various manifestations of Conceptual and environmental art.