Simon Bedwell

Simon’s work has generally been characterised by a sprawling, mouthy, sensuous version of institutional critique.

Staff details

Position

Reader in Fine Art

Department

Art

Email

s.bedwell (@gold.ac.uk)

Simon Bedwell has made posters, sculpture, publications, exhibitions, paintings and videos, both alone and with other artists (the London art group BANK 1991-2003), generally characterized by a sprawling, polemical, sensuous, vulgar and snarky attitude towards art, politics, art-politics and the politics of art. Recent solo shows include SOCIETY, a 2017 Hospitalfield commission and NO at Piper Keys 2016. His work had been exhibited at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Musee d’Art Moderne Paris, Saatchi gallery, ICA London, CCA Glasgow, Transmission Glasgow, Catalyst Belfast, Treize Paris, Drawing Center New York, Rental Los Angeles, Whitechapel London, Studio Voltaire London, White Columns New York and Piccadilly Underground concourse.

Academic qualifications

MA Fine Art, Goldsmiths 1993
Post-graduate Printmaking Diploma, Brighton University, 1989–1991
BA Fine Art (Painting), St Martins School of Art, 1983-1986

Teaching

5/2 days per week since 2000:
BA Fine Art 2010 to date; MFA 2007-2010; BA Fine Art 2000-2007
Lecturer in Photography, Kent Institute of Art and Design, 1997-2000
Visiting lecturer, Brighton University MA Fine Art, 1996-2002; UEL 1998-2000.

Professional projects

2016 - In a Dream I Saw a Way to Survive and I Was Full of Joy, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester;
2014 - First and Last Men Ha Gamle, Stavanger, Norway; Paradigm Store Howick Place, London
2013 - The Banquet Years:Relics and Archives, Mgk Elaine, Basel; The Banquet Years Motinternational, London
2012 - To Start with, Let's Remove the Colour, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Eire; Bank Self Portrait: Relics and Archives Treize, Paris
2012 - The Weight of Living Motinternational, London; Writer in Residence Ormeston House, Limerick, Eire
2011 - The Hole the Hole, London; Cabaret Ramin Barquet, New York; We Are Grammar Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York
2010 - Tublic Service Announcement Invisible Exports, New York; East End Promise: Shoreditch 1985-2000; La Belle Dame sans Merci Vegas
2010 - Rude Brittannia: British Comic Art Tate Britain, London; Grand National: Art from Britain Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Norway
2010 - So Be It: Interventions in Printed Matter Roth, Ny; Gallery, Galerie, Galleria Norma Mangione Gallery, Turin
2009 - Painter of the Hole Mot International, London
2009 - Asphalt World Studio Voltaire, London

Featured publications

As is typical of lo-fi publications often associated with art exhibitions, these do not have ISBN status:

The Hole, xerox, 2011, issues 1-5; quotes with photographs with contributions from featured artists Katrina Palmer, Alice Channer, Laure Prouvost, Claire Carter, Leah Capaldi, Tom Benson, Lodovico Pignatti-Morano, Phillip Lai.
BANK; Black Dog Press 2000
The Bank; xerox, 1996-1997, issues 1 - 34; tabloids 1-9 accompanying the exhibition Viper/BANK TV, one to accompany Life/Live at Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris 1997, the remainder as part of Sewage Lust, a show at the ICA London 1997, editorial and contributions from Matt Mitchell, Simon Martin, Tracey Emin, Graham Ramsay, Jake Chapman, and many more
Photo-book catalogues to accompany the shows Space International (1992), Wish you Were Here (1994), Zombie Golf (1995), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1995) and Fuck Off! (1996).

Publications and research outputs

Show/Exhibition

Memories of the 5 Administrations Bedwell, Simon A. and Sutcliffe, Stephen. 2024. Memories of the 5 Administrations. In: "Memories of the 5 Administrations", Beaconsfield Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 15 May - 6 July 2024.
SOCIETY Bedwell, Simon A.. 2017. SOCIETY. In: "SOCIETY", Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, United Kingdom, 25 June - 10 July 2017.
No Bedwell, Simon A.. 2016. No. In: "No", Piper Keys, London, United Kingdom.

Untitled (No Inside) Bedwell, Simon A.. 2014. Untitled (No Inside). In: "Paradigm Store", Howick Place, London, United Kingdom.
Untitled, 2010 Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. Untitled, 2010. In: "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", Vegas Gallery, Vyner Street London, United Kingdom, 03/09/2010 - 03/10/2010.
Heliotrope Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. Heliotrope. In: "Heliotrope", Vulpes vulpes, United Kingdom, 12/06/2010-27/06/2010.
Rude Britannia: British Comic Art Thompson, Milly and Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. Rude Britannia: British Comic Art. In: "Rude Britannia: British Comic Art", Tate Britain, United Kingdom, 9 June – 5 September 2010.
So be it: interventions in printed matter Thompson, Milly and Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. So be it: interventions in printed matter. In: "So be it: interventions in printed matter", Andrew Roth, NYC, United States, April 8– May 7, 2010.
Use and Mention Chilver, John; Afrassiabi, Shahin; Ash, Jesse; Bauer, Diann; Bedwell, Simon A.; Billy, Vanessa; Bolivar, Juan; Burton, Adam; Carneiro da Cunha, Tiago; Coleman and Hogarth, Kim and Jenny; Cumberland, Stuart; Dany, Hans-Christian; Frearson, Annabel; Freee, Freee; Ghazi, Babak; Ghosts Eat Mirrors, Ghosts Eat Mirrors; Glogan, Jeremy; Gottelier, Luke; Gruenfeld, Thomas; Hemsworth, Gerard; Higashionna, Yuichi; Holmes, Emma; Jones, Gareth; Kartscher, Kerstin; Kollectiv, Pil and Galia; Lowe, Brigrid; Macuga, Goshka; Makh, Ellen; Pettitt, Daniel; Reski, Gunter; Rosler, Martha; Schultze, Michael; Sill, Heidi; Simpson, D. J.; Strange, Jack; Stubbs, Michael; Timberlake, John; Verzutti, Erika; Vinitsky, Yonatan and Wright, Carla. 2010. Use and Mention. In: "Use and Mention", Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, 26 Jan - 26 Feb 2010.
SO BE IT:INTERVENTIONS IN PRINTED MATTER Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. SO BE IT:INTERVENTIONS IN PRINTED MATTER. In: "So Be It: Interventions in Printed Matter", Andrew Roth Gallery, New York, United States, April 8– May 7, 2010.
Untitled 1, Untitled 2, both acrylic on linen, 2010 Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. Untitled 1, Untitled 2, both acrylic on linen, 2010. In: "Standard Candles", Vulpes Vulpes, United Kingdom, 31 March - 25 April 2010.
Royale with Cheese Bedwell, Simon A.. 2010. Royale with Cheese. In: "Royale with Cheese", Aicon gallery, United Kingdom, 06/03/2010-03/04/2010.
GRAND NATIONAL: ART FROM BRITAIN Bedwell, Simon A.; Thompson, Milly; Russell, John and Williamson, Andrew. 2010. GRAND NATIONAL: ART FROM BRITAIN. In: "GRAND NATIONAL: ART FROM BRITAIN", Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway.
Standard Candles Chilver, John; Bedwell, Simon A.; Reski, Gunter and Vinitsky, Yonatan. 2010. Standard Candles. In: "Standard Candles", Vulpes Vulpes, London, United Kingdom, 31 March - 25 April 2010.
FAX Bedwell, Simon A.; Thompson, Milly and Russell, John. 2009. FAX. In: "Fax", The Drawing Center, United States, April 17 - July 23, 2009.
The Painter of the Hole Bedwell, Simon A.. 2009. The Painter of the Hole. In: "Simon Bedwell", MOT International, United Kingdom, 5 September - 3 October 2009.
LESS IS LESS, MORE IS MORE, THAT'S ALL Bedwell, Simon A.; Thompson, Milly and Russell, John. 2008. LESS IS LESS, MORE IS MORE, THAT'S ALL. In: "Less is less, more is more, that’s all", Bordeaux, France, 13 June - 05 September 2008.
Other People's Projects Bedwell, Simon A.. 2008. Other People's Projects. In: "Other People's Projects", White Columns, New York, United States, 22/02/08 - 30/03/08.
The Furnishers Bedwell, Simon A.. 2007. The Furnishers. In: "The Furnishers", White Columns, 1/10/2007 - 2/11/2007.
Untitled (Death) Bedwell, Simon A.. 2006. Untitled (Death). In: "Cabaret", Ramis Barquet gallery, United States, February 17 – March 19, 2011.
Untitled (The Prelude) Bedwell, Simon A.. 2004. Untitled (The Prelude). In: "WE ARE GRAMMAR", Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, United States, 21/2/2011-27/5/2011.
BANK; Milly Thompson and Simon Bedwell Thompson, Milly and Bedwell, Simon A.. 2003. BANK; Milly Thompson and Simon Bedwell. In: "BANK; Milly Thompson and Simon Bedwell", Store Gallery, 6/30/2003 - 7/31/2003.
John Moores 22 - The Ambassador Bedwell, Simon A. and Thompson, Milly. 2002. John Moores 22 - The Ambassador. In: "John Moores 22 - The Ambassador", The Walker, 9/8/2002 - 12/8/2002.
Galleon and Other Stories Bedwell, Simon A.. 2002. Galleon and Other Stories. In: "Galleon and Other Stories", Saatchi Gallery, 7/7/2002 - 12/1/2004.
Century City Bedwell, Simon A. and Thompson, Milly. 2001. Century City. In: "Century City", Tate Modern, 1/30/2001 - 4/21/2001.

Art Object

Fax-Back Bedwell, Simon A.; Thompson, Amelia and Russell, John. 1998. Fax-Back.

Project

RANK: Picturing the social order 1516 - 2009 Bedwell, Simon A.. 11 February - 5 September 2009 RANK: Picturing the social order 1516 - 2009.
Asphalt World Bedwell, Simon A.. 15 January - 15 February 2009 Asphalt World.
Asphalt World Bedwell, Simon A.. 2009. Asphalt World.