Exclusive Gavin Fry solo show opens at Wolfson College

Tooting Khamun by Gavin Fry
28/04/2023

“My house isn’t like that, my house is very tidy,” says artist Gavin Fry, pointing to one of the cabinets filled with objects in his solo exhibition at Wolfson College.

Tooting Khamun by Gavin Fry

This weekend, Gavin opens his very first solo exhibition at Wolfson, 'Things Put Differently'. Visitors to the College will find 26 embroidered works, alongside the kernels of ideas, including sketchbooks, inspirations, and found objects in two curated cabinets.

“Some of the things in the cabinets are from the 1980s when I first went off to college, some are things that I found a few days ago,” he says, revealing the newness of some of the pieces of the exhibition.  

The cabinets are like visual diaries or sketchbooks that outline the artistic process, while the embroidered works themselves, some of which are embroidered collages, are filled with ideas and questions, sometimes raised up in embroidered three dimensions.

“It’s about ideas, ultimately,” says Gavin. Embroidered self-portraits, eyes, labels, and phrases are frequently the colourful container for these ideas. Gavin has a history of training in embroidery, including Jacobean stump work, or raised embroidery.

There are some common themes and imagery across the exhibition: “There are lots of eyes everywhere,” he says. “They are often portraits or self-portraits. They are about looking, but they’re also pieces about drawing itself.” 

There’s also an obvious humour within these pieces, but Gavin is cautious not to push the comic button too hard. “Humour is meant to be here,” he says, “I do like things to be funny, but I don’t want them to be necessarily ha ha ha.”   

"I wasn't good at anything else"

Gavin grew up in Luton and trained in art textiles at Goldsmiths College in the 1980s, followed by a Masters at the Royal College of Art. He is currently Lecturer in the School of Art at the University of Brighton, where he supervises at PhD and MA levels. He started sewing at 14 and was thrilled and attracted to textiles from an early age, making trips to the V&A on his own when he was 12, following up with his own work. “I wasn’t good at anything else,” he says.

Why textiles? Well, there were obvious formative influences. “My doctoral thesis was on ‘why do men do textiles’. And the reason for that is one word: women. It’s all about formative figures. And the formative figures for me were my grandmothers: one who could embroider, and the other who was a painter, but who could also embroider. Grandparents often see things that your parents are sometimes too busy to see.” 

Gavin’s professional background is as varied as the cabinets of ideas in the exhibition. He worked for Lynne Franks PR company in the 80s, the inspiration for the UK comedy Absolutely Fabulous; in churches, working on ecclesiastical textiles; in the fashion industry; and then as a psychiatric nurse. The latter is, he says, “a young man’s game, but I learned a lot from it, for my teaching now – and for self-awareness.”    

A first solo show at Wolfson

Gavin has been displaying his work in exhibitions since the 80s, but has never done a solo show before. Why? “They are annoying,” he says, wryly, “they are hard work!”

Fortunately, after some hard work getting these pieces together, the embroidered works framed thanks to The University of Brighton’s Research and Knowledge Education Grant, Gavin’s first show is now open to students, Wolfson members, and the general public on Sunday 30 April. 

How to view the exhibition

'Things Put Differently' by Gavin Fry is free and open to all. The exhibition is accessible on Saturdays and Sundays 10.00-17.00, until Sunday 10 September. The exhibition may occasionally be unavailable; for instance, during graduations, so it's worth contacting the Porters' Lodge in advance of your visit (01223 335900).

You can read more about the exhibition on the Things Put Different event page.

 

 

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