Peter Liversidge (born 1973) is a British contemporary artist notable for his diverse artistic practice and use of proposals.
Personal life
Peter Liversidge studied Fine Art in Exeter at the
University of Plymouth
The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...
and film and photography at
Montana State University-Bozeman
Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...
. He moved to London in 1996 where he now lives with his wife and two children.
Work
Over the course of the last 12 years, using an
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been part of ...
typewriter, Liversidge has created proposals for exhibitions that range from the simple to the impossible. He experiments with what he describes as the "notion of creativity", often realised as objects, performances, or happenings over the course of an exhibition. Liversidge says of his proposals that: "...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."
He draws inspiration not just from artists such as
On Kawara
was a Japanese conceptual artist who lived in New York City from 1965. He took part in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.
Early life
Kawara was born in Kariya, Japan on December 24, 1932. After graduating fro ...
,
Fischli and Weiss, but also from artists such as
Joseph Cornell
Joseph Cornell (December 24, 1903 – December 29, 1972) was an American visual artist and film-maker, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of Assemblage (art), assemblage. Influenced by the Surrealists, he was also an avant-garde e ...
and the
Reverend Howard Finster, as well as inveterate tinkerers like his own grandfathers.
Liversidge is driven by the generative notion of creativity and the idea that art is most successful when it exists slightly outside of formalist notions of fine art. The physical objects Liversidge produces often include banal, everyday materials that are repurposed or co-opted for his use. His work, as seen in a lot of his proposals, requires the presence of the viewer and their interpretation of the proposals to complete the aesthetic experience.
Liversidge has worked with, and exhibited at,
Tate Liverpool
Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corpo ...
in 2008, the
Centre d'Art Santa Mònica
Centre d'Art Santa Mònica (CASM), more commonly abbreviated as Arts Santa Mònica, is a public venue in Barcelona, (Catalonia) opened in 1988, for exhibiting contemporary art. It is located in the Raval side of Rambla de Santa Mònica (Ciutat V ...
, Barcelona in 2008, Bloomberg SPACE, London in 2009 and the
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...
in 2010. He has also developed projects for
Cab Gallery, the
Frieze Art Fair
Frieze Art Fair is an international contemporary art fair in London, New York, and Los Angeles. Frieze London takes place every October in London's Regent's Park. In the US, the fair ran on New York's Randall's Island from 2012–19 and in 2 ...
, (with Ingleby Gallery), the
Europalia
Europalia is a major international arts festival held every two years to celebrate one invited country’s cultural heritage. Europalia was established in Brussels in 1969, and from the beginning Europalia was designed to be a multidisciplinary cu ...
Festival in 2007,
Art Basel
Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...
, Miami, in 2009 and Edinburgh's Sculpture Park, Jupiter Artland, also in 2009.
His performances, such as Gin Stand, Plum Bread and Embossing Bank Notes present the viewers with a piece of work to take away with them. Another aspect of Liversidge's work is sending various objects through the post. "For Peter Liversidge the postal service is also a collaborator in the work. The attached post labels and alterations are like contributions to the piece."
He has also created video projections for the bands
Wires Under Tension
Wires Under Tension are an American post-rock band from New York City.
History
Wires Under Tension was founded by Christopher Tignor, a classically trained violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( s ...
and
Balmorhea. In April 2012, Liversidge created the stage design and projection backdrop for
Low at the
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...
as a specific proposal. He again worked in collaboration with the band on their 2013 tour, creating the stage design and projection at London's
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
in April 2013. In October 2014, Liversidge collaborated with musicians
Julia Kent
Julia Kent is a Canadian cellist and composer from Vancouver, Canada, and based in New York City, United States. She has performed as a member of Rasputina and with Antony and the Johnsons.
Musical career
Kent creates music using looped cell ...
and
Rachel Grimes on 11 new compositions to mark the end of his exhibition, ''dopplegänger'', at The MAC in Belfast.
In 2015, Liversidge created the cover for the album ''Ones and Sixes'' by the band
Low.
He worked with the band again to create the cover for their 2018 album ''Double Negative''.
For the opening of the
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
extension in June 2016, Liversidge presented a choral piece for 500 singers.
Selected published proposals
*Proposals for Bonniers Konsthall, 2018. ()
*Proposals for the Government Art Collection, 2017. ()
*Proposals for Nils Frahm, 2016. ()
*Proposals for the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 2016. ()
*Proposals for the residents of Sceaux Gardens, 2015. ()
*Proposals for Reykjavik, 2014. ()
*Proposals for basis, 2014. ()
*Proposals for Frome, 2014. ()
*Proposals for The Royal London Hospital, 2014. ()
*Proposals for Printed Matter, Inc., 2014. ()
*Proposals for Santarcangelo, 2013. ()
*Whitechapel Proposals, 2013. ()
*Proposals for Kiasma, 2012. ()
*Proposals for The Flag Club, 2012. ()
*Proposals for Huntley, 2011. ()
*Proposals for Sean Kelly Gallery, 2011. ()
*Proposals for the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 2010. ()
*Proposals for Town Hall Hotels & Apartments, 2010. ()
*Ingleby Proposals, 2010. ()
*Bloomberg Proposals, 2009. ()
*Jupiter Proposals, 2009. ()
*Proposals for Liverpool, 2008. ()
*Fair Proposals, 2007. ()
*Festival Proposals, 2006. ()
*Proposals 1997–2005, 2005.
Selected publications
*Peter Liversidge - Surface Mail (or The Limitations of Magic), 2017.
*Twofold, 2016. ()
*Selected Proposals, 2013. ()
*What You'd Expect, 2004. ()
References
External links
*
Sean Kelly Gallery – Peter LiversidgeIngleby Gallery – Peter LiversidgeInterview with Peter Liversidge for Aesthetica MagazinePerformance of The Bridge at Tate Modern
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liversidge, Peter
1973 births
Living people
English contemporary artists
Alumni of the University of Plymouth