Malt Cross Gallery
Ryan Dunn (UK)
Ryan Dunn graduated from Loughborough University in June 2006 with a BA in Multi-Media Textile Design. He went on to study Industrial Design at Central Saint Martin’s College, graduating in June 2008. At Central Saint Martins, Dunn’s research project took the form of a philosophical investigation into people centred design methodologies, focusing on the tendency for consumer digital goods to be designed with a vast excess capacity of function. Through his practice Dunn seeks to raise questions about the nature of material culture, specifically what it means to be modern in a post-industrial society. The aesthetic style of Dunn’s work often draws inspiration from his Industrial Design academic background at Central Saint Martin’s College by appropriating and subverting elements from the visual language of contemporary modernist design. In both his academic design research and post-graduation artistic practice Dunn strives to work across art and design disciplines and not restrict himself to a narrow pre-determined set of media or processes.
Scott Sharp (UK)
Fascinated by big-budget productions and sensationalised journalism, Scott sits his practice on the point where the harsh reality of true experience becomes twisted and confused, challenging its metamorphosis into the spectacle that is “hyperdrama” and entertainment. By sourcing imagery of real-life events and then exposing them to forms of abstraction and a sense of heightened aesthetics, similar to those experienced in blockbuster cinema, sensationalised news stories or online digital communications media, he explores concepts involving daily relationships with fiction and reality, the close proximity these two notions now share, and how certain ideas of safety can be dangerously transferred from one to the other. Scott's work hints at how such blurring effects can lead to social numbing and desensitisation. The primary goal of his work is to throw up questions about what effects sensationalism and the spectacle of modern-day media are having on our cultural identity, and individual/social psyche.
Chinese artists Jingbo Zhang and Jinhua Zhou will also have work on display.
About The Malt Cross
The Malt Cross is an exciting and vibrant Christian Charity and Café-Bar on St James’s Street. It was set up in 2003 by a consortium of city centre churches, St John’s College and the University Chaplains to preserve the beautiful Grade II listed former music hall for future generations. The Malt Cross works with young and up-and-coming artists and musicians to develop and nurture talent.
