Richard Nott 'Cipher'

c i p h e r | |

The attitude that nature is chaotic and that the
artist puts order into it is a ver y absurd point
of view. All that we can hope for is to put some
order into ourselves.
Willem de Kooning
R I C H A R D N O T T

Introduction
Cipher is the latest solo exhibition by Richard
Nott. The title is an intriguing indicator, as it is
clear when speaking with Nott about his recent
work and his oeuvre in general that any emotive
meaning or reasoning within these matter paintings is
not denied but remains coded and elusive even to him. A
myster y that keeps the wheels in motion.
When Nott speaks of the work, he speaks of its
for m, its torturous and chaotic constr uction, the
elusive quality that has to ‘happen’, and do so
without shortcut. His description of much of the
process makes it clear that his role is as conduit,
there is no clear method; the matter is affected by
its own particular and peculiar circumstances – by
pouring, burning, scraping and peeling. His control
over it at times is limited. When Rene Magritte titled
his painting ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ (‘This is not
a pipe’) he illustrated paintings potential to create
illusion. Nott’s paintings are not illusionar y, the
histor y of the surface is one that is real, and has to
be built. These paintings are objects – tableaus of
their own histor y.
Nott originally trained in sculpture and he often
talks about the work in sculptural ter ms. Given it’s
physicality it should come as no surprise. But these
are paintings. When he talks of the vital aspect of
the str ucture of the work, a difference between the
practices occurs to me. In sculpture the str ucture
for a piece of work literally enables it to stand.
Without it the piece would fall. In painting
such a device does not have the same tangible
necessity - so why to Nott does it feel so imperative?
It is through the deliberated str uctural mark that
is often violently and obsessively incised in to the
surface of the material that the artist makes his
emphatic appearance. The control to even out the
confusion perhaps. Man’s ordered existence within
the chaos of nature is felt. A scar is made.
Mark Rothco once remarked ‘Art is an anecdote of
the spirit, and the only means of making concrete
the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness’.
Nott is an artist at the centre of the confusion
of making, it is art because of the artists need to
inter vene, to spontaneously but assertively make
his presence felt, and to leave a mark. It is this
str uctural inter vention that these paintings, indeed,
stand upon.
Through these intricate, entropic panels one can
contemplate the ephemeral, the elemental, the
environmental, the physical and perhaps the
spiritual but also behold man’s fundamental need
to be present and to seek to g ain order. Our
disconnection with that which lays beyond our
control does not surpress our attempts to enforce
our presence.
Joseph Clarke, 2010
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Inscription I mixed media on block panel 153 x 153 cm
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Inscription II mixed media on block panel 153 x 153 cm

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Origin I mixed media on block panel 100 x 100 cm
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Origin II mixed media on block panel 100 x 100 cm

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Origin III mixed media on block panel 100 x 100 cm
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Origin IV mixed media on block panel 100 x 100 cm

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Origin III mixed media on block panel 100 x 100 cm

Origin V mixed media on block panel 100 x 100 cm
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Chapters I mixed media on block panel 46 x 46 cm

Chapters II mixed media on block panel 46 x 46 cm
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Chapters III mixed media on block panel 46 x 46 cm

Chapters IV mixed media on block panel 46 x 46 cm
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Chapters V mixed media on block panel 46 x 46 cm

Chapters VI mixed media on block panel 46 x 46 cm
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Elements I mixed media on floated panel 62 x 62 cm

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Elements II mixed media on floated panel 62 x 62 cm

Elements III mixed media on floated panel 62 x 62 cm
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Elements IV mixed media on floated panel 62 x 62 cm

Elements V mixed media on floated panel 62 x 62 cm
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Network III mixed media on floated panel 94 x 94 cm
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Network I mixed media on floated panel 94 x 94 cm

Network II mixed media on floated panel 94 x 94 cm
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Editions I mixed media on block panel 91 x 91 cm

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Editions II mixed media on block panel 91 x 91 cm

Editions III mixed media on block panel 91 x 91 cm
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Empire mixed media on block panel 153 x 153 cm
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Richard Nott
Selected CV
Chronology
1983 - 85 B.A (Hons) Fine Art, Lancashire Polytechnic
1985 Assistant to Andy Goldsworthy
1987 - 89 MA Fine Arts, Reading University
Residencies
1999 12th International Weeks of Painting, Keleia Foundation, Slovenia
Publications
Solo Exhibitions
2010 Cipher, Millennium, St. Ives, Cornwall
2008 Richard Nott, New Millennium Gallery, St. Ives
2006 Richard Nott, Dean Clough, Halifax, Yorkshire
2005 Platform, One’O’Two Gallery, London
2003 New Paintings, New Millennium Gallery, St. Ives
2001 Transition, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall
2010 Cipher, Millennium, St. Ives
2008 Richard Nott, New Millennium Gallery
2007 Art Now Cornwall, Tate Publications
The St Ives School 1997 - 2007
2003 New Paintings, New Millennium Gallery
2002 ARTNSA, NSA Publications
1999 Telekomovi Mednarodni Slikarski Tedni, Exhibition Catalogue
1996 Drawing Towards the end of the Century, NSA Publications
Selected Mixed Exhibitions
2010 London Art Fair, Islington, London
2009 Mixed Winter Exhibiiton, Millennium, St. Ives
London Art Fair, Islington, London
2007 Art Now Cornwall, Tate Gallery, St. Ives
The St Ives School, Howard Gardens Gallery, Cardiff
2002 Constructed, Newlyn Art Gallery
2001 Richard Nott, Sax Impey & Ged Quinn, Fermyn Woods Contemporary Art
2000 British Art Fair, London
1998 Common Ground, Richard Nott & Sax Impey, Book Gallery, St. Ives
1997 Landmarks, Richard Nott, Sax Impey & Carole McDowall, Cafe Gallery, London
1996 Drawing Towards the end of the Century, Newlyn Art Gallery
1994 Richard Nott & Philip Smith, Alternative Art Gallery, London
New Art in the South West, Eight Selected Artists, Spacex Gallery, Exeter
Awards
1994 Southwest Arts, Visual Arts and Photography Award
All work in this exhibition 2008 - 2010

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Cipher’ by Richard Nott
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
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Photography by Graham Gaunt (www.grahamgaunt.com)
Portrait taken from a photograph by Rosie Hallam (www.rosiehallam.com)
Printed by St Austell Printing Company (www.sapc.co.uk)
ISBN 978-1-905772-38-4
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