Every element in an exhibition of work by Peter Liversidge begins at the artist’s kitchen table with Liversidge sitting alone writing proposals on an old manual typewriter. These hand-typed pages, present an array of possible and impossible ideas for performances and artworks in almost every conceivable medium. In a sense the first realisation of every work is in Liversidge’s head, then on the page, then in the mind of the reader, and finally (perhaps) as a physical object or happening. In every case, the first ‘artwork’ from any series of proposals is the bookwork that presents the collected ideas.

As Liversidge has said: “… the process is also about the notion of creativity: it’s important that some of the proposals are actually realized, but no more so that the others that remain only as text on a piece of A4 paper. In a sense they are all possible and the bookwork that collates the proposals allows the reader to curate their own show, and because of its size and scale the bookwork allows an individual to interact with each of the proposals on their own terms, one to one”.

Over the past few years Liversidge has worked in this way with an increasingly diverse body of institutions and places including: Proposals for Liverpool (Tate Gallery, 2008),Proposals for Barcelona (Centre d’art Santa Monica, 2007),Proposals for Brussels (with the British Council for the Europalia Festival, 2007), Proposals for Miami (Art Basel Miami, 2009) and Jupiter Proposals (Edinburgh’s sculpture park Jupiter Artland, 2009). Liversidge had a major solo show, THE THRILL OF IT ALL, at Ingleby Gallery in 2010.

Recent projects include; Proposals for the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, made in celebration of SNGMA’s 50th anniversary (presented at the 2010 Edinburgh Art Festival) and in 2011, Proposals for Towner (Towner Gallery, Eastbourne) and Proposals for Kiasma (The Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki).

(From Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh who represent Peter)

Glossary

  • Medium

    Refers to either the material used to create a work of art, craft or design, i.e. oil, bronze, earthenware, silk; or the technique employed i.e. collage, etching, carving. In painting the medium refers to the binder for the pigment, e.g. oil, egg, acrylic dispersion. The plural form is media.

  • Sculpture

    A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.

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