Camberwell Space is delighted to present GOOD DOG GREAT BEAST, a solo exhibition of new work by Stella Pearce, 2023 winner of the Vanguard Prize.
How can the good dog disobey? Where is the great beast?
In this immersive installation, artist Stella Pearce explores how we feel compelled to exaggerate, downplay, redact or fictionalise narrative details. Camberwell Space has been transformed to host waxwork characters in precarious scenarios. Doubles, emulations, imitations, replicas, decoys and lures confuse and complicate the distinction between danger and safety. Decoys repel, lures attract; or perhaps the reverse.
The theatrical interplay between space, objects and characters creates a ghostly carnivalesque. It creates a slapstick and spooky choreography punctuated by complications that scatter and disrupt the symbolic, social and linguistic order of the installation.
The work draws on Stella’s fascination with silent film, mime, wax moulages (replica injuries used for medical training), seance assemblies, and the automata in the ‘Horror Hotel’ ghost train at Brighton Palace Pier.
Working at the intersection of live performance, installation, sculpture, theatre and dance, Stella is influenced by her time as a student of Butoh dance, clown, and puppetry. The characters are conjured through an attraction to a particular object, article of clothing or gesture, and are then embodied and channelled through extended movement improvisations.
As part of her practice, Stella Pearce curates and produces exhibitions and performance events. Alongside GOOD DOG GREAT BEAST, Stella presented a newly commissioned performance and a public programme of workshops and events.
A solo performance by Stella Pearce, inspired by herpetologist Karl P Schmidt and his diarisation of poisoning, following an accidental snake bite. With a live foley score from Arthur Bently.
An evening of dance and music exploring memory, mysticism, and transformation through conjured figures from history and beyond. With Freestylers, Colin McLean, Vida Vojić, and Stella Pearce.
An embodied performance workshop where participants were invited to explore the power of their internal agitator as a catalyst for creative development.
Since graduating with a BA in Fine Art: Painting from Camberwell College of Arts in 2021, Stella has actively curated and exhibited in self-initiated exhibitions and performances alongside collaborators. Her projects have taken place in a variety of unusual, abandoned, disused, and temporary buildings and landscapes across London, Kent, Suffolk and Wales, as well as more established venues such as The Horse Hospital, St John’s Church (Waterloo) and Ivy House (Nunhead).
During her year-long residency at Vanguard Court, Stella presented 2 solo shows: What Can You Say? It’s Family, an exhibition, Shhh!, which premiered at Ruthin International and Pen Theatre in London. This performance was further developed with support from a residency at the London Performance Studios.
Stella is currently participating in the Conditions Studio Programme, Croydon.
The Vanguard Prize supports emerging artists and strengthens Vanguard Court’s strong links with Camberwell College of Arts. Since 2010, it has supported recent graduates to develop their practice and careers through a year’s free studio residency and mentoring, culminating in an exhibition at Camberwell Space.
As part of her practice, Stella Pearce curates and produces exhibitions and performance events. Alongside GOOD DOG GREAT BEAST, Stella will present a newly commissioned performance and a public programme of workshops and events.
Stella Pearce and Camberwell Space would like to express their sincere thanks to Lenny Terrones-Huet, Lead Technician, and Robin Finch Pickering, Technician, for their invaluable support and contributions.
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