Carrie Reichardt is a contemporary artist, who works from a studio in London
The Treatment Rooms A member of the
Craftivism
Craftivism is a form of activism, typically incorporating elements of anti-capitalism, environmentalism, solidarity, or third-wave feminism, that is centered on practices of craft - or what has traditionally be referred to as "domestic arts". Craf ...
movement, Reichardt uses murals, ceramics, screen-printing and graphic design in her work. She is a dedicated advocate of the movement and curated one of the few exclusively Craftivist exhibitions in the UK.
Biography
![Extinction symbol by artist Carrie Reichardt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Extinction_symbol_by_artist_Carrie_Reichardt.jpg)
Reichardt trained at
Kingston University
, mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress"
, established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.3 m (2015)
, ...
and received a degree in Fine Art from
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
. In 2009 she was invited to become Artist in Residence at
Camberwell Art College as part of the Artists Access to Art Colleges programme. This initiative provides placements for visual artists and singers in higher and further education institutions across England.
She followed this by a period as Artist in Residence at the
Single Homeless Project. She has exhibited at the
Whitecross Street Party in Islington as part of her ongoing collaboration with the SHP.
Carrie Reichardt has spoken on the use of craft and art as protest, most recently for
National Museums Liverpool
National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...
’s
International Women’s Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...
lectures in March 2012. She has also represented the UK as part of a group of international artists invited to mosaic the Argentinian Government building in Buenos Aires.
Notable work
Reichardt is best known for her anarchic crockery, where vintage floral, kitsch, royal and religious crockery is given a new twist by re-firing with layers of new ceramic decals. They are modified in a "radical use of traditional things", along with skulls, cheeky slogans and political statements.
* The Tiki Love Truck – commissioned by ‘
Walk the Plank’, specialists in outdoor performance. This mosaic-covered pick-up truck, was dedicated to the memory of a death-row inmate. Winning first prize at the inaugural parade in Manchester, the truck has since participated in the Illuminated Parade in Blackpool, and the Glowmobile Parade in Gateshead.
* Trojan Horse –a life-sized resin horse, with a skull for a face and coated in a mosaic ofinformation about the abuse of horses, made in collaboration with sculptor, Nick Reynolds. This protest against equestrian cruelty was displayed at the
Cheltenham Festival
The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...
Races, an event symbolic of the British establishment and an international centre of horse racing. The project was featured in
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
* The London
Elephant Parade 2010 – Carrie’s mosaic elephant, ‘Phoolan’, was part of the largest ever public art event – taking place outside London’s
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
* The Milan Elephant Parade – this joint project with Reynolds was inspired by the revolutionary spirit spreading across the world and conveyed the message that ending capitalism is the only true way to save the elephant and the planet. The elephant was displayed outside the
Triennale di Milano Museum of Art.
*
Mary Bamber
Mary Hardie Bamber (''née'' Little; 18 January 1874 – 4 June 1938), often known as Ma Bamber, was a Scottish socialist, trade unionist, social worker, and suffragist. Her daughter Bessie Braddock was a prominent Labour Member of Parliame ...
, a life-sized ceramic-adorned figure of the revolutionary socialist,
Mary Bamber
Mary Hardie Bamber (''née'' Little; 18 January 1874 – 4 June 1938), often known as Ma Bamber, was a Scottish socialist, trade unionist, social worker, and suffragist. Her daughter Bessie Braddock was a prominent Labour Member of Parliame ...
, now on permanent display at the
Museum of Liverpool
The Museum of Liverpool in Liverpool, England, tells the story of Liverpool and its people, and reflects the city's global significance. It opened 2011 as newest addition to the National Museums Liverpool group replacing the former Museum of ...
.
Carrie Reichardt’s work has featured in the press including, The Observer, The Guardian, The Evening Standard, Tile and Stone and in several books including; ‘1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse,’ Garth Johnson, ‘Mural Art No 2’, Kirikos Iosifidis and ‘The Idler 42 - Smash the System’ – Tom Hodgkinson.
References
External links
Carrie Reichardt in The GuardianCarrie Reichardt & Nick Reynolds discuss the Phoolan ElephantCarrie Reichardt's Trojan Horse in The GuardianCarrie Reichardt on Mary Bamber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichardt, Carrie
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century British artists
21st-century British women artists
Visionary environments
Alumni of Kingston University
Alumni of Leeds Beckett University