WINNER OF 2023 BROOKFIELD PROPERTIES CRAFT AWARD
Open to the public
5th July-29th September 7am-7pm
Venues: 99 Bishopsgate
London, EC2M 3XD
30 Fenchurch St.
London, EC3M 3 BD
Several significant and large works made over nearly twenty years feature in what is a large scale solo presentation of the artists work over two London venues. The works range in date from 2006 (The Schiffli Series) to 2023. Flightlines is a new work made for Hangzhou Textile Biennial and not previously shown in the UK. Several new works are also included. At the bottom of this page is a list of which works can be found in which venue.
Each year The Brookfield Properties Craft Award honours a maker who has pushed the boundaries and achieved excellence in the contemporary craft sphere.
Each year, the winning artist is selected from Crafts Council’s Collect, the leading international fair for contemporary craft and design. The winning artist is the subject of a solo exhibition at Brookfield Properties’ central London landmark venues and has artworks acquired for and accessioned into the Crafts Council Collection.
This year’s winner sees Alice Kettle, represented by Candida Stevens Gallery, as the recipient of the 2023 Brookfield Properties Craft Award from over 400 makers. The works acquired for the Crafts Council Collection are Three Girls, 2022; Little Bird, 2022; and The Swimmers, 2023 which can be seen in the 99 Bishopsgate exhibition.
Kettle's work explores notions of memory, identity, and community, and her pieces often feature intricate, figurative compositions that capture the essence of the human experience, drawing on political events from the personal to the wider, shared experience. This exhibition brings together a selection of Kettle's significant works, showcasing the breadth of her practice and technical mastery. A recurrent motif is the use of the figure to present personal and universal themes, featuring real and fictional characters that are navigating a range of situations and events.
A subject that is a deep motivation in much of Alice’s work is human dignity, particularly present in her work Sea, on display at 99 Bishopsgate. The works displayed in 99 Bishopsgate present a collection of Kettle's motifs – the three figures observing their surroundings, the vastness and power of the sea and figurative portraits all questioning our relationships with our world and surroundings. The display in 30 Fenchurch Street brings together three bodies of work, each developed in a series and through collaborative projects: Schiffli Series (2006) created with the 86 needle schiffli embroidery machine at Manchester School of Art for the exhibition Mechanical Drawing – The Schiffli Project, in which Alice challenged the uniformity of repeat by changing the colour and thickness of the threads; the monumental Flight Lines created for 4th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, China, 2022 and the recent House That Jack Built series with the artist's narrative continuing across both works.
Pieces Acquired for the Crafts Council Collection from Candida Stevens Gallery
Little Bird (2022)
Three Girls (2022)
The Swimmers (2023)
Pieces at 99 Bishopsgate;
The Dog Loukanikos and the Cat's Cradle - 237 x 130cm
Flower Dress - 237 x 130cm
Queen Elizabeth - 174 x 129cm
Daisy - 132 x 103cm
Sunflowers - 260 x 130cm
Threadbearing Witness, Sea - 300 x 800 cm
Pieces at 30 Fenchurch;
Flightlines, 289 cm x 836 cm
The House That Jack and his Friends Built, 180 x 128cm
The House That Jack Built, 180 x 128cm
Schiffli Series, Nepenthe, 240 x 190cm
Schiffli Series, Ormo, 249 x 200cm
Schiffli Series, Ophrey, 245 x 200cm
