Ruth Spencer
Contacts
Email
info@ruthspencer.co.uk
Axis Profile
www.axisweb.org.uk
Instagram
@ruthspencerartist
Information
Ruth Spencer’s work occupies the space between the recording of transient visual phenomena and its interpretation by the spectator. The interpretation of visual data is based on experience, but this leads to many transient effects of light and shadow being ignored or discounted by the spectator as visual interference. The majority of paintings and installations are based on direct observation, however some paintings are based on memories of locations at specific times of day.
Between 2002 and 2013, Spencer created a series of installations in which the image of light and shadow has been transferred from one location to a new space. The light and shadow was selected to make sense in the public space or gallery in which it was being exhibited but also to subtly subvert the spectator’s perception of that space.
The Night Lights series of paintings is based on memories of the effect of street lighting on industrial spaces and the tilting compositions are intended to increase the unsettling nature of the image. In later paintings the source of light is daylight but with a reflective surface such as a mirror or water creating an additional source of light. In Flood, still water in flooded fields, acts as a source of light in the landscape, with the landscape inverted by the mirrored surface of the water.
Selected Exhibitions
- 2016 Hinterland 2, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
- 2015 Hinterland, Telsen Building Birmingham
- 2012 Elements, QUAD Derby
- 2012 Joint show,Granary Gallery, Western Park
- 2007 Visual, Baskerville House, Birmingham
- 2007 Virtual, Aston Business School, Birmingham
- 2006 Virtual, Ernst and Young, Birmingham
- 2006 What do people do all day? Mailbox Birmingham
- 2005 Virtual, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
- 2005 Photoworks One Person Show, The Crown, London
- 2005 Spreading Light, The Window, Birmingham
- 2004 Virtual Three shows Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Millenium Point, BBC Mailbox
- 2004 Space. MAC, Birmingham and Museo Barjola, Gijon, Asturias, Spain
- 2004 Blueskies, Selected by Jonathan Watkins and Sadie Plant, Custard Factory, Birmingham
Selected Project Management
- Espacio Museo Barjola, Gijon and Midland Arts Centre Birmingham 2004
- Repertorio, Brescia, Milan, Rozzano 2003
- Bookworks, Birmingham Central Library 2002
- Birmingham Works, Chuck Works, Birmingham 2002
- Hidden Meanings, Sheffield, Cheltenham, London 1998
- Director Birmingham Artspace 2008 — present
- Board member National Federation of Artists Studio Providers 2005 — 2009
- Director of Birmingham Artists 2000 — 2005
- Chair of Birmingham Art Trust 1993 — 94
- Birmingham Art Trust and Birmingham City Council on refurbishing Lee Bank studio spaces
© Ruth Spencer