Modern Art Oxford and CVAN South East present The Platform Graduate Award 2021

Modern Art Oxford is proud to reopen its doors with the Platform Graduate Award 2021, a series of three solo exhibitions by selected Bachelor of Fine Art graduates from local universities.
Led by the Contemporary Visual Arts Network South East (CVAN South East), the Platform Graduate Award celebrates and supports emerging artistic talent. The public are invited to discover and revel in the current generation of artists working in the South East across a series of exhibitions at Modern Art Oxford, Aspex in Portsmouth, MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, and Phoenix Art Space in Brighton.

From 23 September – 31 October 2021, Fetine Sel Tuzel (University of Reading), artist duo Bevan Hill & Will Griffiths (Oxford Brookes University) and Beth Simcock (Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford) will showcase their work across three consecutive solo exhibitions in Modern Art Oxford’s Creative Space.

Fetine Sel Tuzel, places and faces, 23 September – 3 October
Tuzel’s two-channel video installation, places and faces, is a psychogeographic exploration of cities and people, from the urban centre of Reading where Tuzel did her fine art degree, to a ghost town in her home country of Cyprus, abandoned by its inhabitants 47 years ago during the conflict and now taken over by nature. Fascinated by the connection between people and urban spaces, Tuzel’s installation explores how people feel and behave in familiar and unfamiliar environments.

Bevan Hill & Will Griffiths, Real Art for Real People, 7-17 October
Using various AI generative engines, this dynamic artist duo has devised an automated creative process: from the production of concepts by a text generator trained on a dataset of descriptions of well-known artworks, to individual generators that visualise the proposed concepts in both two and three dimensions. With these ‘readymade’ works across painting and sculpture, the duo become the indifferent manufacturers who merely realise the machine’s designs in physical form. This is a reversal of the contemporary conceptual artist-manager, so often detached from material production. Central to the work is an interrogation of the role of the artist, and the value and security of human ways of seeing.

Beth Simcock, The Zodiac, 21-31 October
The Zodiac is a painting installation that spans twelve large canvases: one for each sign in the astrological calendar. Each painting holds its own internal logic while also referencing the larger connection to its network of neighbours. The canvases span the space in a configuration that might just be accidental, evoking the almost-infinite squares of the Instagram grid. Together, these uneasy constellations suggest the brooding possibility of change. Simcock’s painting and writing practice is devoted to mythologies, both self-created and borrowed: from classics, art history, contemporary popular culture, and the online world.

Speaking of the award, CVAN South East’s Manager, Oliver Sumner says: “This award provides a much needed springboard for artists graduating from our local Universities. It could not happen without the enduring engagement of our Higher Education partners, and of course this year’s four host venues in the CVAN South East network. My thanks go to them all, and most of all to the artists themselves who have amazed us despite the pandemic disruption of their final year.”

Established in 2012, the award includes a £2000 bursary and 12 months of mentoring from an arts professional, and is given to an outstanding graduate from one of 17 participating regional higher education partners. The initiative is led by CVAN South East and is a partnership between four galleries: Aspex in Portsmouth, MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, Modern Art Oxford and Turner Contemporary in Margate.

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Notes for Editors
Join the conversation: #Platform2021
For media enquiries contact: Clare Stimpson, Head of Digital, Modern Art Oxford: +44 (0) 1865 813 826 media@modernartoxford.org.uk
About CVAN South East
CVAN South East (Contemporary Visual Arts Network South East) is a regional network of visual arts organisations that works collaboratively and with the wider South East visual arts sector to collectively deliver a strong visual arts offer for artists and audiences alike, developing partnerships, research projects, artists’ commissions and professional development. A major element of its programme is the Platform Graduate Award that it has managed since 2012. The network is supported by Arts Council England.
About Modern Art Oxford
Located in one of the world’s great cities of learning, Modern Art Oxford is a leading contemporary art space with an international reputation for innovative and ambitious programming. We promote creativity in all its visual forms as an agent of social change. Our programmes, both in person and online, are shaped by a belief in dialogue between contemporary art and ideas, and celebrate the relevance of contemporary visual culture to society today.
Modern Art Oxford, 30 Pembroke Street, Oxford, UK, OX1 1BP
info@modernartoxford.org.uk | 01865 722 733
Our 2021 Platform Graduate Award exhibitions are generously supported by The Idlewild Trust and The Fenton Arts Trust.