Daniel Lismore: Studio Visit
13 January – 12 March 2023
GIANT – The Bobby’s Building
The Square
Bournemouth
BH2 5LY
GIANT presents Studio Visit, an exhibition of work by ‘Living Sculpture’ Daniel Lismore. Daniel Lismore Studio Visit runs at GIANT Gallery 13 January – 12 March 2023. Taking over the GIANT Project Space, Lismore will create a site-specific installation based on the studioenvironment that is instrumental to his practice, aiming to give visitors a unique insight into the creative processand the development of his work.
As a ‘Living Sculpture’, Daniel Lismore has been a prominent fixture on the London Fashion and Art circuits and an activist for human rights and the environment for 20 years, having exhibited his work at major art world events including Art Basel and the Venice Biennale, as well as heavyweight institutions such as the Tate Modern and Tate Britain.
His touring exhibition ‘Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken’ opened in February 2022 for Coventry UK City of Culture, at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. For his most recent show in August 2021, Lismore became a living statue between a selection of his sculptures at the V&A Museum for his Fashion in Motion show. This was his first performance piece on a stage.
Photo courtesy of ©Vidar Logi
“When I’m asked, “Can I come visit your studio” I usually respond “No” and that my studio is in my mind, and I’ve been very privilege to work on museum floors to create my sculptures but what you will see in this installation are my surroundings from my homes which are the places I have made most of my work.” – Daniel Lismore
Lismore creates elaborate, extravagant, three-dimensional tableaux of figurative sculptures crafted like tapestries; each artwork is created from fragments of items previously worn by the artist, meshing history and futurism whilst reflecting the world in which he exists. His evolution as a living sculpture was fuelled by a childhood growing up in his father’s antique auction house, where historic regalia priceless exquisitely hand-made treasures, artworks, weaponry and suits-of-armour were assembled alongside collectible Star War figures and Star Trek memorabilia.
Although he started his career as an artist from the perspective of the outsider, working as a photographer, Lismore ultimately moved in front of the lens as a model, later emerging as a creative consultant for Mert & Marcus, Steven Klein, David LaChapelle and Ellen von Unwerth.
Lismore has been named by Vogue as ‘England’s Most Eccentric Dresser’. In 2017 he was selected to be part of the ‘Out 100 List’ and in both 2018 and 2020 he was included in the top hundred of the ‘Guardian Pride Power List’. Daniel Lismore Studio Visit includes a series of artworks alongside artifacts from the artist’s life, from childhood to the present day, including photographs, sketches, mementoes, notes, dream books and ideas.
The ‘Lismore Land’ installation is a 30-year collection of items that have surrounded the artist in his living spaces, including memories, inspirations, commissioned artworks, miscellaneous artworks, experiments, everyday objects from the artist’s life, gifts, souvenirs, obsessions, collected artifacts and a workspace.
The show will also debut his unseen work from lockdown and his 2021 sculpture which he wore during his V&A Museum ‘Fashion in Motion’ exhibition. The exhibition will be accompanied by a custom-made scent ‘Lismorian Boudoir’ based on the artist’s home, created in collaboration with perfumer Anne-Sophie de Brauwere-Bentinck.
GIANT, a 15,000 square foot gallery in Bournemouth, opened in Summer 2021. The largest artist-led space in the UK, it is situated within a historic building in the heart of the town centre and has already featured important works by major international artists. GIANT’s exhibitions to date have remained true to its promise to be accessible, entertaining, exciting, challenging and open; bringing many of the world’s greatest contemporary artists to Bournemouth for the first time they have garnered visitor figures that rival some of London’s most loved institutions.
Founded by British contemporary artist Stuart Semple, GIANT’s programme features works by some of the best known international artists and new pieces by inspiring yet largely unknown creators from around the globe, aiming to start dialogues across hierarchies, histories and cultures.
Daniel Lismore Studio Visit runs at GIANT Gallery 13 January – 12 March 2023
https://www.daniellismore.com/
©2023 Daniel Lismore, GIANT, Colin Douglas Gray, Vidar Logi
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