HMP Grendon 09.02.2023
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NOTES FROM HMP GRENDON
Racing Thoughts No.16
The latest post by Dean Kelland, Ikon’s artist in residence at HMP Grendon.
Dean Kelland is Ikon’s artist in residence at HMP Grendon, Buckinghamshire (2019-2023).
Funded by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.
The Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust has funded Art at HMP Grendon for twelve years. During this period Ikon has managed two artist residencies – Edmund Clark (2014 – 2018) and Dean Kelland (2019 – 2023) – resulting in major exhibitions at Ikon Gallery and HMP Grendon, Buckinghamshire.
With a focus on the development of the prisoners’ artistic practice, Ikon has opened the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Studio at HMP Grendon – a dedicated space for workshops, in printing and painting, and a changing programme of exhibitions, art historical and contemporary. Future exhibitions include presentations by Australian painter Sidney Nolan (1917 – 1992) and Viennese artist Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (1906 – 1996).
The residency runs alongside a public programme of research symposia and events at Ikon, allowing a platform for public discourse on the role of art in criminal justice.
“I have a studio space at Grendon and all of the creative thinking and work in progress is discussed with the men there. This collaborative side of the project has been an unexpected and exciting part of the process so far. If possible I want the work I’m making to speak to, and for, the residents and this ongoing engagement in the studio is crucial to that end. Building relationships through the studio and by facilitating practical workshops with the Grendon community has been such a positive experience and I am thankful that they have welcomed me so readily, taken on board the ideas and embraced contemporary art practice so openly.”
Dean Kelland, Artist
DEAN KELLAND
Kelland works across performance, photography and filmmaking. His practice touches on cultures of taste and histories of class in order to produce engaging observations on collective and mediated identities. Kelland has exhibited nationally and internationally with Ikon and undertaken residencies at New Art Gallery Walsall and the Birmingham & Midland Institute.
Kelland holds a PhD from Central Saint Martins (entitled Flawed Masculinities: “Rupturing” 1950s/60s/70s British Sitcom via a Performance-led Interdisciplinary Arts Practice) and is MA Fine Art course leader at the University of Wolverhampton.
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HMP Grendon 26.01.2023
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Art at HMP Grendon: There is no masterpiece
Ikon presents There is no masterpiece, the first exhibition at the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Studio at HMP Grendon, Buckinghamshire.
HMP Grendon 08.12.2022
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Notes from HMP Grendon
Racing Thoughts No.15
The latest post by Dean Kelland, Ikon’s artist in residence at HMP Grendon.
“It started with a seemingly insignificant series of e-mail notifications. None of which I responded to. In that lack of response lay the catalyst for a decision to retrace steps and try to find or re-find the roots of what I do. It is no surprise that after 25 years as an educator, 100 miles an hour, week in week out I would feel a sense of loss.”
HMP Grendon 22.09.2022
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Notes from HMP Grendon
Racing Thoughts No.14
I had made it a policy from the beginning of the residency to never ask directly about anyone’s reason for being in Grendon. I had never googled them or tried to find any details about them outside of the prison either. For this reason it was easy to interject with certainty and also not react to the list of offences that had been shared. “Who am I to judge anyone here? You’ve been judged, by others…and yourselves. The present is more than the past for me and I prefer to move forward not back.”
HMP Grendon 29.06.2022
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Notes from HMP Grendon
Racing Thoughts No.13
The latest post by Dean Kelland, Ikon’s artist in residence at HMP Grendon.
“George, here is your matcha tea with soya.” I looked up from my screen and walked over to the counter. “Lovely, thanks Sonia.” My regular visits seemed to coincide with Sonia’s shifts and, as I arrived at the counter, she smiled. “You’re always welcome.”
HMP Grendon 08.04.2022
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Notes from HMP Grendon
Racing Thoughts No.12
The latest post by Dean Kelland, Ikon’s artist in residence at HMP Grendon.
“What is a ‘good’ man? That’s still the question…”
OTHER RESIDENCIES AT HMP GRENDON
Ikon first worked in partnership with HMP Grendon and the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust in 2014, with renowned artist Edmund Clark, who over a four-year programme (2014 – 2018), developed a new body of work culminating in an exhibition at Ikon in 2018.
