Tuesday 11 November 2008

Artist’s sugar cube sculpture takes 11000 lumps

By Emily Moulton

SUGAR WALK (2008) Brendan Jamison, scale 1:100, sugar cubes, 60 x 65 x 35 cms,
commissioned by Bradkeel Developments for CBRE site at Great Patrick Street, Belfast

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this impressive scale model of a block of apartments destined for Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter is definitely sure to be to someone’s taste.

   The 60cm tall sculpture is made entirely from sugar cubes and was designed by Northern Ireland artist Brendan Jamison. Sugar Walk took two months to complete and used a staggering 11,265 cubes.

   However, it is not the largest sugar model the artist has constructed. A few years ago Brendan built a 9ft tower using 19,342 sugar cubes.

   So what led the 29-year-old to use sugar cubes in the first place? “I guess it all started when I was young,” he said.

“I used to go up to my bedroom where I would play with my Lego. I was always fascinated with building spaceships and robots. So when I went to school my interest in 3D art developed. “This continued into my university life where I started experimenting with different materials.”

   After graduating with a Fine and Applied Arts degree from the University of Ulster in 2002, Brendan went on to complete a Masters in Fine Art. It was then he began using the cubes as building blocks for large sculptures.

   In October 2006, he completed a residency and solo exhibition at KHOJ, New Delhi, India.

Brendan has also received three awards from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and has been nominated for the 2008 AIB Emerging Artist Award.

   And while this latest work is his first commissioned piece, it’s not the first time he’s been asked to create a sugar work. “Last month a PR company from London contacted me about creating scale models of the Sugababes,” Brendan said. “They wanted me to have it done in a month but that was impossible. “I explained that it would take four months per person, essentially a full year and that it was not possible in that time frame. However, I do continue to do small commissions.”

  While Brendan is happy to do commission work, he is currently working on a solo exhibition on Helen’s Tower which is to be displayed at an art gallery in Bangor next October. He says he has already spent the past two months working on the exhibition and anticipates it will take the best part of next year to complete. And while he loves using sugar cubes, the artist also loves working with wool and wax. He explained all three materials gave him the freedom to experiment with different ideas.

MOULTON, EMILY. “One Lump or a Thousand?”, Belfast Telegraph, am edition, Tuesday 11 November 2008, p. 3   

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29 February 2008

Brendan Jamison's JCB Bucket Series

By Chrissie Russell

Belfast's many building sites provide the inspiration behind the latest exhibition at Queen Street Studios Gallery. The austere title of the installation: The Aesthetic of Construction belies the quirky nature of Brendan Jamison's work which features 15 wax-dripped sculptures of playful, almost human, JCB buckets that behave like a herd of wild animals running amok in the gallery space.

RUSSELL, CHRISSIE. “Brendan Jamison’s JCB Bucket Series”, Belfast Telegraph, am edition, 29 February 2008, p. 18

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Monday 22 August 2005

Art proves ideal for the Board

ARTOPOLY: Brendan Jamison, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast

Review by Ian Hill (Man About Town)

Artopoly’s centre piece is a vast replica board-game where Belfast’s art galleries replace the hotels of Mayfair and houses of the Old Kent Road. So Hugh Mulholland’s Ormeau Bath’s Gallery would cost you £400 of Brendan’s mock Arts Council grant money, while Bernard Jaffa’s ArtTank is yours for just £150.

Continuing his satire on art’s bureaucracy, Brendan supplies giant Community Chest and Chance cards. One suggests setting fire to a gallery as an art installation. Another promises to be featured in Man About Town.

Royce Harper, presenter of Northern Visions TV’s The Artery slot, had come to launch the exhibition. But first he filled in his voting form for President of the Art World.

Peter Richards, the shows curator persuaded his partner to play another wall game. In it you are asked to identify international art fairs solely from maps of countries that hold these biennials.

Brendan’s provocative and amusing show has its serious side. It examines the possibly unjustified role of ambition and governance in the contemporary art world. There are artists who are great and there are artists who are great at filling out Arts Council grant application forms. And they aren’t necessarily the same people.

HILL, IAN. “Art Proves Ideal for the Board”, Belfast Telegraph, city edition, Monday 22 August 2005, p. 8