JUSTIN BATEMAN
Name: Justin Bateman
Age: 47
Occupation Fine Art Lecturer & Artist
Born: UK
Living: Internationally, currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
My current Land Art project began in the forests of Southern UK around 2018. There is no uniform stone leading to highly varied outcomes according to geological composition. Historically there have been strict rules around mosaic practice. Around 200 BC random stone mosaics were replaced by materials cut into a cubical or regular shape, in mosaic practice this is called ‘tessera’. The most common material became marble, for its durability and gloss finish when polished. My work returns to a more ancient practice… I guess you could say it is the sculptural equivalent to cave painting! Its simplicity makes it available regardless of socio-economic background or class.
My work employs the immediate environment as both palette and canvas for ephemeral interventions. Most of the work is impermanent with less than 10% being preserved for private collectors and exhibitions. Once complete the work is photographed and then destroyed, a process that reflects the entropy of life as the stones return to their innate disarray. Of course, it is only physically ephemeral due to preserving the image in a photograph. Although the pebbles become pixels, these too will slowly fade into the ether…. Nothing is immune to erosion.
Abandoning traditional mosaic practice the work is assembled directly on the ground; the stones are not coloured or cut, they retain their original form in its entirety. It could be considered as a form of contemporary pointillism or neo expressionism. or as my friend and contextual theory lecturer Stuart Gard states; ‘the portraits present a question without assuming an answer, but a collection of responses without qualification. United in their material information – they are conceptual mosaics with figurative resonance; the Earthworks become postmodern micro strategies, pointillism, neo expressionism and a recession which becomes a return; the fragments of the Neo Avant Garde re-made as sites or new in-sight…. ‘A return to Rome’. (Stuart Gard – Contextual Theorist, Professor and Artist, UK).
I have been inspired by a great many artists. The most obvious would be Andy Goldsworthy in his choice to work beyond the confines of galleries but also Phillip Guston for example in the abandoning of abstract expressionism and subsequent pursuit of indexical semiotics and symbolism. Guston challenged notions of ‘high art’ and ‘low art’ celebrating the simplicity of comic illustrations whilst pointing to issues of national importance. My most recent pieces are originals but a number of my older creations are derivatives of significant artworks. Previously these artworks were shut behind walls in galleries. One of my concerns is to remove the barrier between art and the hands of the people. This means working in common environments, exchanging marble and oil paint for pebbles and using only a mobile phone to document the outcomes. Anyone, anywhere can make this art regardless of socio-economic barriers. Many of the subjects are based on ‘high art’ yet to make a sandcastle or a snowman is considered ‘low art’. Much of my work responds to symbols of the bourgeoisie. I also create originals, contemporary works that mimic the style of Renaissance masters whilst including elements of a more autobiographical nature. Derivatives are easy to dismiss… Many will miss this point, but that’s okay – I hope the work is accessible on many levels, indexical semiotics is only interesting to the few. It’s an eclectic mix, linked together by threads of personal experience and contextual play. A collection partly inspired by the platform on which it resides; Instagram.
George Washington may appear as a political statement, in reality I am investigating a more personal theme; for example the effect money might have on the composition of one’s character. It also points to world events, the crumbling dollar or Mount Rushmore returning to its own disorder due to environmental factors. In other pieces the subject is merely an avatar representing deeper values, hopes and beliefs…. Few of which I can claim as mine. Each person’s anatomical architecture provides genetic clues with every new experience leaving a trace. George Orwell said ‘At 50, everyone has the face he deserves’…. I find physiognomy fascinating and include a broad range of personalities in my work for this reason. Each piece shoulders various complexities, rather like the subject it depicts. Sometimes the stones can interlock in very satisfying ways, at other times it is like forcing a poorly made jigsaw together. The final product is a miniature celebration of its own, idiosyncratic curiosity.
Although my practice appears illustrative, I consider it more akin to performance. I always felt all art was theatrical in nature, the canvas being a small feature in a much larger narrative. Of course fragments of each subjects life are known to me, so I have a metaphysical montage of each person’s story and a record of their characteristics. People are often surprised by the presence the portraits exude and how animated simple and apparently innate rocks can become.
The process is humbling, spending hundreds of hours on my knees feels a lot like worship. But I’m not worshipping the subject, rather the creative force that drove what matters to exist. It is very hard on my body, a sacrifice I may come to regret in later life. The simplicity of the final outcome is deceptive because it takes a huge amount of time to conduct research, prepare colour swatches, collect stones, complete the work and then photograph. Although I only use a mobile phone to document my work, I do use a wide variety of techniques to create it. Despite my minimalist tendencies and thorough organisation, the work has taken its toll. Each piece takes between a few weeks to well over a month to complete and sometimes I will remake them countless times using different combinations of stones to find the most effective outcome. I must then return the stones to their original disorder to cause the least disruption to local ecology and micro organisms. I leave the environment exactly the way I found it, after all we visit the natural environment to commune with nature and not be reminded of man’s interventions.
These portraits are like fossils, temporarily framed in the sediment of their time. I wanted to see if such a seemingly cold and dispassionate medium could express warmth, hope, joy, strength, wisdom, kindness and even sensuality. I have been quietly amazed by the vast arrays of expression possible.
Education
Art & Design Foundation, University of Portsmouth
Sculpture BA (Hons), Central Saint Martins
Art Education (MA), Fareham College
Exhibitions
The Art Farm, Hang Dong, Thailand, 2020
Dubai UAE International Expo, 2022
Embracing Our Differences, Florida, 2022
British Embassy, Bangkok, 2022
Tessera Exhibition, Berlin, 2022
Bangkok Culture Centre, Thailand, 2023
Robert’s, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2023
Algonquin, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2023
Bright Gallery, New York, 2023
Privinance Modern Art, Philippines, 2023
Blanc Gallery, Philippines, 2023
White Cube, Tokyo, 2023
Art Legacy, Amsterdam, Holland, 2023
Aviva Studios, Manchester, 2023
Magazines, Publications and Features. This list is a small collection of international press features, many more are available here:
More features: https://www.justinbateman.org/press-features.html
ITV (UK), 2019
Chiang Mai City Life, 2021
Reddit Front Page, 2021
Home & Decor Singapore, 2022
Forbes, 2022
My Modern Met, 2022
The Guardian, 2022
The National Geographic 2022
Frieze, London, 2023
Channel 3 Thailand News 2023
Vision Times, 2023
View, Germany, 2023
The Knowledge, 2023
Good Morning America, 2023
Meta Awards, 2023
News, San Diego, 2023
The Riv, California, 2024
Web: https://linktr.ee/pebblepicassos
Instagram: pebblepicassos