Rounding out 2019 with a few posts after a period of inactivity, We have Joel Nicholas this month. Joel is a recent graduate from the MA in Brighton, and currenty has a show up at The Old Biscuit Factory with Art Number 23. Joel was kind enough to speak with us about his process and materials. Please Click through for some more photos and a short interview. 
First off, have you seen any really killer painting shows lately? Your work uses
assemblage and found materials, so perhaps this idea of medium specificity as a criteria for a review isn’t important, what are some other great exhibitions that our readers might have missed?
I actually came across Howard Dyke recently at Ridgeway Gallery in Brixton. The one that Dom Kennedy is running. He and I got along really easily due to our work sharing a lot of the same enquiries, in respect to assemblage. We just flipping love materials that are chucked out and giving them new life. It’s a little bit of fun and can carry a new underlined meaning at the same time. That’s like a whole potential area for enquiry – the theory of how context can change meaning and re-appropriation of text being a part of that as well. I particularly enjoyed how he allowed a painting to decompose and come alive again in another form, carrying over elements of the previous form into the next in this urban-decayed collage. Especially a fan of how he’d got the Lorry tarpaulin vinyl, complete with the Ratchet straps amidst the canvas. I’m not limited to the language of materiality when it comes to what I go out to see though. Although I missed Tal R at the Hastings Contemporary – I’ve no excuse as its just along the coast from me – but his approach to mysticism and the human condition is exactly what I enjoy outside of my own experience. He’s been an influential figure in respect to seeing how a man can carry the Hebrew heritage, being born in Israel, and the Norse mindset, being brought up in Copenhagen. This is something that has carried through my journey of faith and painting; set off by the spiritual struggle that the character Athelstan has in Vikings. As a (still fairly new) Christian making art, I’m quite keen to see how stories are told and mysticism is used in paintings. I really think keeping an eye and an ear out for art that is confronting preconceptions, and unraveling unnecessary boundaries, in a humble/humorous way, is paramount for any artist making healthy art. I’m seeking to re-contextualise the Christian faith in the cultural mindset of western society, so any shows dealing with tribalism/mythology/humanity and its rituals are good. Jess Power had some of her recent work in ‘Detritus’ as part of the Wells Projects space in Battersea. Now she’s someone to watch – definitely handling some themes that I’m interested in and excited to see it develop and engage with it. There’s almost a sense of relief when you find others making similar work that is still different. It’s like you are part of the same consciousness, finding a new way to express itself.