About Alan M Sherwood

University:

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

BA (Hons) Fine Art - 2007

Work:

Works range from purely photographic images, to full scale installations which are temporal in nature.

My work revolves around the illustration of mortality and time. I often work with sculptural materials that have a natural decomposition, a material that will, as part of its own life-cycle, degrade or change to produce something of its own.

I often work somewhere between sculpture/installation and photography, but my photography centers around absence, I photograph scenes that people should be in, or abandoned places.

Exhibitions:

Degree Show at CSM, London - 2007

Huntingdon Festival - Secret Garden Party, Huntingdon - 2007

To Take Away (One), London - 2007

Return It (Two), London - 2008

Which living artists do you most admire and why?

Damian Hirst and Teresa Margolles. Hirst I love purely because he is shit but gets away with it on a constant basis. And because his early work was mind blowingly good. A Thousand Years is still one of the most awe inspiring works I have ever seen. And Margolles because she dares to do something out of the ordinary, working with blood, dead fetus’ and a group of Mexican artists solely concerned with mortality.

Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?

Gordon Matta Clark, because he went round cutting holes in buildings. Which I think was fantastic. He just found a building and decided that it would look good with a hole through it.

Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?

The Tate Modern opening. I went with a fellow designer and loved it. They had Anish Kapoor’s Adam on display and I have always found that work throughly exhilarating.

What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?

It used to be, “How did your Uni let you get away with that?” Which I generally answered with a smile, sometimes because they hadn’t and other times because I had no idea how I had convinced them that this was a good idea.

What/who inspired you to be an artists?

Originally I wanted to be an architect until I found out how limited you would be, creatively. Then I went on to do graphic design as an ideal life, and found the same thing of that. Eventually I found Fine Art and settled into the idea that I could now become my own boss, and I could create what I wanted in the way I wanted. Then I did my degree.

Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any the significance of this location is?

Photographically it is of absolute significance but it can be anywhere. Normally somewhere there are no people, or somewhere where there should be people but aren’t. Sculpturally there are no rules, normally I make work where there is room and mostly my work is site specific.

What do like most about being an artist?

Stupid ideas, I love thinking yeah this would be great, and then just doing it. Like, ‘yeah I should buy 2000 balloons and fill them with helium.’ In retrospect maybe that’s one of the worst things about my art too, stupid ideas.

What are your plans for the coming year?

I have been taking a little bit of a year out as an artist and focusing on my design work. So mainly get back into photography and getting my head around making sculpture that has a life expectancy, which is difficult as I never really feel I should bother making something that destroys itself.

Other - Aspire Design Studios:

Aspire Design Studios was originally founded by Ed J Allen and Will Allen, after both Will and Ed received their degree's in Graphic Design. Will from the Art Institute of Houston - Texas, and Ed from University of the West of England, Bristol. They set about with grand ideas and very little time.

Ed worked on several of the sites on the client list before enlisting Alan M Sherwood as code monkey.

Alan has a degree in Fine Art from Central St Martins, and is what some would call multi-disciplinary and some would call mixed up.

Together we have worked on web sites for artists, photographers and Djs, and print design for the ACB, Venture Publications, bars and nightclubs. We are always happy with a challenge, and worked on coffee fuelled late nights.

We specialise in both web and print media, have a fair few years of experience working closely with both clients and printers, and have a good understanding of both the commercial value of design and of the art/design aesthetics.

Copyright and Design

All artwork and photography shown on this website are copyright Alan M Sherwood.

Design by Aspire Design Studios