Buffet d'Art (London)

Buffet d'Art (London)

Venue: Ambika P3 Gallery, London
Curators: Peggy Atherton, Maria Bartolo and Ben Joiner
Date: 4th November 2016
Co-exhibitors:

Gustavo Ferro, Veronika Seifert, Maria Bartolo, Dolanbay, Doug Fishbone, Marcia Farquahar, Gayle Chong Kwan, Ben Joiner, Stuart Cumberland, Judith Dean, David Donald, Francis Upritchard, Luke Gottelier, Robert Rush, Kerry Stewart, Eric Bainbridge, Holly Hendry, David Mabb, Kitty Finer, Phil Allen, Brendan Lynch, Rachel Lowther, Edwina Ashton, Demelza Watts, Jo Addison, Louise Ashcroft, Georgina Starr, Peggy Atherton, Flora Parrott, Lucy Joyce, Katie Cuddon, Ian Kiaer, Renata Bandeira, Sharone Lifschitz, Justin Fitzpatrick, Mark Wilsher, Des Hughes, Annie Davey, Peter McDonald, Keith Wilson, Fabian Peake, Raine Smith, Pip Thompson, Keith Bowler, Pete Owen, Sarah Pucill and Adam Gillam

Buffet d'Art at the Ambika P3 gallery in London showcased an array of artists, all of whom were invited to bring along a buffet size piece of work to be perused on a plinth. A melee of mismatched yet aspiring works, some with delusions of grandeur, others grubby with spillage and monotonous repetition, the showcase included sculpture, live art, film, sound, light and painting. Buffet d'Art was set to a medley of smooth and relaxing music by Brendan Lynch, designed to whet the senses and heighten the experience of these buffet-inspired memories.

Cotterrell's The Wall, within the touring exhibition Buffet d'Art, is a playful interaction with debates regarding walls, borders and xenophobic paranoia and consists of a home installable table-top defensive barrier. Supplied complete with a selection of culturally diverse miniature figurines, the domestic user is invited to determine where to draw their dinner-time boundary and who would be allowed into their defensive perimeter. This 1:100 scale version did not yet incorporate Trump's 'Big beautiful door', so the choice of who the 'good ones' were to be allowed in had to be a more definitive statement. Future versions may incorporate angrier crowds, fatigued travellers, despairing children and a selection of ladders and missiles.