Access at Terry's

127 Deptford High St, Deptford, SE8 4NS, London

April 12—17

Monday to Saturday 10:00—19:00

Arabella Hope

Mariana Mauricio

Scott Young

Gabriele Zemaityte

Curated by Jael Arazi

Between April 12—17, affectionate clients, art–lovers and passers–by will be able to witness a diverse range of artworks dialoguing with the abundance of everyday objects that Terry’s Discount can offer. The show investigates artificiality and its relationship with ordinariness, as well as human progress, and forms of knowledge dissemination. It aims to inspire reflections on our contemporaneity, and especially on our relationship with often overlooked aspects of our quotidian life.

The extremely situated aspect of this show is reinforced by its characteristic location and its peculiarity also resides in the fact that it cannot be transposed to the digital dimension: Terry’s is a symbol of Deptford. It is rooted in the daily life of its community, and in the same way, the artworks merge with the environment that hosts them, they become part of it, rediscovering the potentials of the everyday.

Arabella Hope

Arabella Hope, am I animal ?, 2021, digital video loop, 10’00”.

From left to right: Branch, Dog, Human, Stone, 4 Giclée prints, each 84cm x 48cm.

The film and the four posters are a local letter sent from Berlin, Where Arabella lives, to Deptford, London. The film follows the point of view of the artist, her, a branch of a tree, and a stone in the pond in the dog park for the duration of a walk.

Inspired by thought on the effects of human progress and the segregation of nature, this group of works represents a walk towards wilderness, to encounter it at a steady point.

Mariana Mauricio

Mariana Mauricio, Werewolf, 2008, oil on linen, 20cm x 25cm

Mariana Mauricio, Verde, Azul, Amarelo, 2021, direct dye on cotton, 160cm x 110cm

Discarded furniture, building parts, found images, textiles and other found objects constitute these works. By amplifying the ‘vibrations’ of each of the parts, they suggest other ways of looking otherwise dormant under each object’s banality. Different histories and subjectivities become connected and speak about the artist’s own experiences, sexuality, representations and ideas of intimacy. The processes that bring these configurations to life have been historically associated with domesticity — folding, ironing, dying fabrics. The resulting grids serve as useful tools in exploring even deeper the relationship between the body, labour, and pleasure within the everyday.

Scott Young

Scott Young, Wood & Marble, 2020 — 2021, dimensions variable, oil on paper.

The static nature of painting is forever in collaboration with other materials, usually architectural in nature, which lay beyond its own limits. Through focusing awareness on the often overlooked elements which ground painting in localised space, new connections can be brought to light. By introducing into the Deptford area new works which imitate the material language of architecture (through the common elements of stone and wood) an axis point can be established.

Gabriele Zemaityte

Gabriele Zemaityte, Golden Glow, 2021, HD video with sound, 4’50”.

The video is presented as a loose monologue of an unidentified female protagonist spoken in an automated voice. The speaker appears to be both a human customer service agent and an automated assistant alike. Yet, the attitude expressed in the speech is more confrontational than customary for a character as such. Their facial expressions oscillate between life-like and uncannily artificial. The monologue is intended to remotely challenge the attitudes that humans apply towards those that work or exist in the service of them, from a position of an intentionally non-compliant agent.

Most of the GOLDEN GLOW piece is intentionally produced through Mobile apps and easily accessible open-source/free software — Animaker Voice, the ‘Mug Life’ app, SCANN3D app for iPhone X series front–facing camera and the Reface app.

Arabella Hope

The general hardware store is my absolute favourite type of shop, where a community meet but also where you can get what you need–locally and with advice. I’m so pleased I’m showing work in such a practical and problem solving institution as Terry’s.

Gabriele Zemaityte

I was first very attracted to the idea of abundance and the visuals of abundance within Terry’s shop. Then I started thinking about plastic, how most of the items in convenience shops like this are plastic because plastic can be cheap and durable. Plastic is fascinating because it is so versatile and can imitate or even substitute most of the materials. These notions of imitation and mimicry seem to be fitting for the ‘Golden Glow’ video, where it is unclear if AI is imitating human or the other way around. Also, I have been thinking about the fact that Terry has everything you may need and if he doesn’t he will get it for you in few days, so his shop is like the ultimate utility (like Amazon) and a little bit like a customer service agent (or Alexa) that is expected to answer every question and fix any problem… we have been observing that often Terry has to guess what people mean exactly when they ask for certain things, hence there can be an assumption made that he is a bit like ‘analogue’ version of the internet.

Through working within Terry’s I also realised how both comforting and terrifying this abundance of objects can be, pretty much everything you may need is there but those items also completely consume the space.

Mariana Mauricio

It’s exciting for me to think about repatriation of objects found in my native country Brazil in the context of such a diverse neighborhood, where I experience being much closer to home than in other areas of London. I am also interested in the resettlement of completed works into the place where I go to buy materials, objects, and find inspiration. So, bringing these objects back its original place/state. I’m in awe of Terry and his vast knowledge of ‘things’, and the cataloguing which is something present in my work.

Scott Young

I have often wandered through aisles of many similar shops to Terry’s as inspiration for my practice. A sense of possibility and discovery often follows. Being able to sift through so many interrelations between unrelated products is truly beautiful. I love clutter and organization fighting each other in a shop display. I recently finished a decorative arts program learning how to paint imitation wood and marble. I am very interested in seeing what sort of relationships can be fostered with the introduction of decorative wood and marble paintings with the products on display at Terry’s.