Press Release | Ensemble
| EXHIBITION DATES Friday 23 November – Saturday 22 December 2018 |
| ‘In spite of their unearthly strangeness I had a feeling that there was something familiar about them.’ William Hope Hodgson, The Crew of the Lancing, 1914 CHARLIE SMITH LONDON is delighted to present Tom Butler’s third solo exhibition at the gallery. ‘Ensemble’ will include three bodies of work. In addition to Butler’s ongoing series of painted cabinet cards, for which he is most recognised, the exhibition will represent the London debut of two new photographic series. Conveying a fascination with photographic portraiture from the medium’s earliest phases, combined with an enquiry into Victorian gothic literature, and specifically its tendency to describe the body as liable to ruin, shape changing or re-assemblage, Butler continues to make beguiling, uncanny images. In ’Ten Elmers’, Butler has collected ten identical cabinet cards in order to work on the same image with various motifs. In doing so, he suggests identities are characterized by embellishment, but also by what remains unadorned. The performative self-portrait ‘Figure’ series adopts a similar strategy. By using a remote-control shutter release and black fabric to mask most of his body, Butler creates images that are determined predominantly by what is concealed, rather than revealed. In his ‘Homunculi’ series, Butler directly references gothic and alchemical tropes. In contrast to the shrouded ‘Figure’ photographs, Butler combines multiple images of his own exposed body parts to create singular, abject self-portraits. Taken together, this fascinating body of work is far more revelatory than Butler’s previous canon, elucidating on the body as an objectification of self. The physical transformation of body or body elements renders the subject ambiguous by obscuring its identity, or suggesting multiple readings, whilst infusing it with disquieting psychological resonance. |
Tom Butler | Biography
| EDUCATION | ||
| 2005-2007 | MFA Sculpture | Slade School of Fine Art, London |
| 2002-2005 | BA (Hons) Fine Art | Chelsea College of Art, London |
| 1997-2000 | BA (Hons) History of Art and Design | Southampton University, Southampton |
| ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS | ||
| 2019 | Pencils of Nature Fox Talbot Museum | Lacock Abbey, Chippenham |
| 2019 | Ensemble | The Eye Sees, Arles |
| 2018 | Ensemble | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2017 | Divided Self | Print Sales Gallery, The Photographers' Gallery, London |
| 2016 | The Hidden | Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit |
| 2015 | Inhabitants | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2014 | One Hundred Misfits | FIFTY ONE TOO, Antwerp |
| 2014 | Inner Worlds | Aucosisco Galleries, Portland |
| 2013 | Absentees | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2012 | Curio | Charlie Dutton Gallery, London |
| 2011 | Aedas Presents: Tom Butler | Aedas Architects, Birmingham |
| 2011 | The Grotesques | Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland |
| 2010 | Hair Creatures | Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland |
| 2010 | “I don’t know when I’ll be home…” | Exeter Phoenix, Devon |
| 2009 | Corespondence | Madame Lillies, London |
| SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS | ||
| 2019 | 10 Years | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2018 | Flux | Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells |
| 2018 | Quirk | Kathryn Markell Gallery, New York |
| 2018 | Photo A Go-Go | Bakery Photo Collective, Portland |
| 2018 | RCA Secret | Royal College of Art, London |
| 2018 | FaceValue2 | Jealous East, London |
| 2018 | Context: Gallery Artists and Collaborators | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2017 | Black Mirror: Magic in Art | The Gallery at AUB, Bournemouth |
| 2017 | Mirror Mirror | Foley Gallery, New York |
| 2017 | In Memoriam - Francesca Lowe | Old Truman Brewery, London |
| 2017 | Unseen Amsterdam | The Photographers' Gallery, Amsterdam |
| 2017 | Art of the Postcard | Handel Street Projects, London |
| 2017 | ANALOG V. DIGITAL | Foley Gallery, New York |
| 2017 | Par VoiX Postale | Museé de la Photographie, Charleroi |
| 2017 | The Collective | The House of St Barnabas, London |
| 2017 | Seventeen | GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp |
| 2016 | Paper Works II | Galerie Martin Mertens, Berlin |
| 2015 | Pairings: Selections from Bruce Brown's Photography Collection | CMCA and Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland |
| 2015 | Show #28: Impossible Geometries (curated by Lauren Haynes) | Field Projects (New York) |
| 2015 | WISH YOU WERE HERE? Artists' postcards from Jeremy Cooper's Collection | Hestercombe Gallery, Taunton |
| 2015 | Das Unheimliche | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2015 | Art to Collect Now | CMCA, Rockport |
| 2015 | THE WALL, Kit and Ace | The Space Shoreditch, London |
| 2015 | Metamorphosis | Queen Street Studios, Belfast |
| 2015 | The Pistil's Waltz | GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp |
| 2015 | WISH YOU WERE HERE? Artists' postcards from Jeremy Cooper's Collection | MAC Birmingham, Birmingham |
| 2015 | RCA Secret | Royal College of Art, London |
| 2015 | Die English Kommen! New Painting from London (curated by Zavier Ellis) | Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt |
| 2014 | Idolatry | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2014 | Re-unpacking (curated by Andrew Bracey) | Nottingham Castle, Nottingham |
| 2014 | Saatchi’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2014 | SCRATCH IT, STITCH IT, CUT IT, KEEP IT | Fotogalleriet, Oslo |
| 2014 | Unseen Photo | Castell Photography, Asheville |
| 2014 | Merge | Castell Photography, Asheville |
| 2014 | WISH YOU WERE HERE? | The Granary Gallery, Berwick Upon Tweed, MAC, Birmingham, The Atkinson, Southport |
| 2014 | Summer Salon 2014 | Aucosisco Galleries, Portland |
| 2014 | Regeneration | The Photographers' Gallery, London |
| 2013 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2013 | Nervous Energy, Tom Butler & Kate Russo | Engine, Biddeford, Maine |
| 2013 | The Masks We Wear | ArtEco Gallery, London |
| 2013 | VOX IX | Vox Populi, Philadelphia |
| 2013 | Photo & Print Open | Charlie Dutton Gallery, London |
| 2013 | Zeitgeist Open | ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London |
| 2013 | Discernible | ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London |
| 2012 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2012 | La Petite Muerte | Drawers Gallery, London |
| 2012 | Zeitgeist Open | ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London |
| 2012 | CMCA Biennial | Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine |
| 2012 | Anthology | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2012 | Art to Collect Now: 35th Annual Benefit Auction Exhibition | Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine |
| 2012 | Student & Teacher Art Show | Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine |
| 2012 | ZAP Launch Exhibition: Collectible | ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London |
| 2011 | ArtWorks Open 2011, Barbican Arts Group Trust | Blackhorse Lane Studios, London |
| 2011 | New Now Next | Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland |
| 2011 | Photomedia | Charlie Dutton Gallery, London |
| 2011 | Extra-Ordinary: Marion Michell, Tom Butler and Alyson Helyer | Core Gallery, London |
| 2011 | Postcards from Paris | Minnie Weisz Studio, London |
| 2011 | Postcards from Paris | Trove Gallery, Birmingham |
| 2010 | Small Works | Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland |
| 2010 | ArtSway Open | ArtSway, Hampshire |
| 2010 | Deptford X Core Gallery Open | Core Gallery, London |
| 2010 | I am Solitary I am an Army, with Beers Lambert | Surface Gallery, Nottingham |
| 2010 | Ludlow Summer Exhibition | Ludlow, Shropshire |
| 2010 | ArtWorks Open 2010 | Barbican Arts Group Trust, London |
| 2010 | Citizen | tactileBOSCH Gallery and Studios, Cardiff |
| 2010 | Worcester Open 2010 | Worcester Art Gallery, Worcester |
| 2010 | What Does Kiwi Mean to You? | RM Gallery, New Zealand |
| 2010 | Things Have Changed | Birdwood House Gallery, Devon |
| 2010 | Tom Butler and Kate Russo | The Flavel Arts Centre, Devon |
| 2009 | 10 Artists | The Old School House, Shropshire |
| 2009 | CUBE09 | Centre for the Urban Built Environment, Manchester |
| 2009 | RWA Open 2009 | Bristol |
| 2009 | Salisbury Open 2009 | Salisbury Art Centre, Salisbury |
| 2009 | Bright Newcomers | Bowie Gallery, Totnes |
| 2009 | Drawn In, Open Drawing Competition | Sidcot Arts Centre, Somerset |
| 2009 | Ludlow Summer Exhibition 2009 | Ludlow, Shropshire |
| 2008 | The Waiting Room | Crouch End Train Station, London |
| 2008 | Salon 08 | Vine Space, London |
| 2008 | workFORCE | John Jones Project Space, London |
| 2008 | Alpha | Lewisham Art House, London |
| 2007 | Subrealism | Aftermodern, San Francisco |
| 2006 | Scene One, in the Offing | Sassoon Gallery, London |
| 2006 | Sterling, New London Artists | Factory Gallery, Berlin |
| 2004 | Art Car-boot Fair | The Old Truman Brewery, London |
| 2003 | ‘Circus’; Peter Blake Sculpture | London Institute Gallery, London |
| 2003 | Happy Days | La Caserne, Pontoise |
| 2002 | Things Which May Appear | Empire Studios, London |
| AWARDS & RESIDENCIES | ||
| 2013 | Elsewhere Collective, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA | |
| 2011 | Photomedia, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK (Winner) | |
| 2010 | Deptford X Core Gallery Open, Core Gallery, London, UK (Prize Winner) | |
| 2010 | Worcester Open 2010, Worcester Art Gallery and Museum, Worcester, UK (Selected Artist) | |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | ||
| 2018 | Issue No. 6 | MysteryTribune |
| 2018 | Issue 9 | ArtMaze Magazine, selected by Kim Savage |
| 2018 | Tom Butler's Self Portrait Series | iGNANT |
| 2018 | Photo of the Day | Don't Take Pictures Magazine |
| 2017 | Feature Spotlight: Cabinet Cards | Photo-Emphasis |
| 2017 | Conspicuous Invisibility: An Interview with Tom Butler, with Alexandra Olczak | The Photographers Gallery |
| 2016 | A History of the Hidden | OMAA, ME, USA |
| 2015 | Altered States, interview with Zavier Ellis | F22/STATE Magazine |
| 2015 | Inhabitants, Séances, And Concealment | Artlyst, by Paul Black |
| 2015 | Self Portraits | GUP magazine |
| 2015 | Black Mirror: Magic Mirror | Willem de Bruin, Exhibition Catalogue, The Gallery at Arts University Bournemouth |
| 2015 | Beg Steal & Borrow: Artists Against Originality | Robert Shore, Laurence King Publishing |
| 2015 | Cabinet Cards | Lens Culture |
| 2015 | Embodiment | Black Mirror 1 |
| 2015 | Inhabitants: Tom Butler at Charlie Smith London | Phoebe Bradford |
| 2015 | Inhabitants: 'Appropriations And Ectoplasmic Abstractions' | Artlyst, by Paul Black |
| 2015 | Inhabitants | Amelia's Magazine, by Amelia Gregory |
| 2015 | Tom Butler: Defacing the Victorians | Elephant #21 |
| 2015 | Regeneration | Financial Times, by Jackie Wullschlager |
| 2015 | Tom Butler Brings New Life to Old Photographs | The Wild Magazine, by Michael Valinsky |
| 2015 | What Has to be Seen at Unseen Amsterdam | Artdependence |
| 2015 | Object of Desire | AnOther Magazine |
| 2015 | The Altered Cabinet Card | Robert E Jackson |
| 2014 | Unseen Photo Fair | September 2014, Volkskrant Magazine, |
| 2013 | New American Paintings | No.110, Northeast Issue |
| 2013 | Appropriation | Issue 13, SuperMassiveBlackHole |
| 2012 | Divergent Visions, Complementary Skills | Bangor Daily News |
| 2012 | Art to Collect Now, text by Deborah Weisgall, 35 th Annual Benefit Auction Exhibition, CMCA Rockport ME, USA | Exhibition Catalgoue |
| 2012 | Review of Curio at Charlie Dutton Gallery | Broughtonbirnie.co.uk.blog |
| 2012 | Interventions by Richard Russo and Artwork by Kate Russo | Down East Books |
| 2012 | MIXED use, The Canvas, by Britta Konau | Maine Home and Design |
| 2011 | Photomedia, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London | Exhibition Catalgoue |
| 2011 | Extra-Ordinary, Review by Chris Osburn | WHITEHOT Magazine |
| 2011 | Sonant Ensemble / The Gavin Bryars Ensemble / Testbed 1 | Vimeo |
| 2010 | Tom Butler And The Case of the Misplaced Hair | Llamarinth, Wordpress |
| 2010 | Marmite Painting Prize 2010 | Exhibition Catalogue |
| 2010 | I Am Solitary I Am An Army | Exhibition Catalogue |
| 2010 | Ludlow Summer Exhibition | Exhibition Catalogue |
| 2010 | The Lost Souls of Soho, Poster Design | Intervention Gallery, London |
| 2010 | Worcester Open 2010 | Exhibition Catalogue |
| 2010 | Love Bites (May) Poster Design | Calder Bookshop, London |
| 2010 | ZeroStretch March Artist | |
| COLLECTIONS | ||
| Bruce Brown, United States | ||
| Jon Edwards, United States | ||
| Ogunquit Museum of American Art, United States | ||
| Quintessentially, United Kingdom | ||
| Soho House, United Kingdom | ||
| Steve Shane, United States | ||
| The Caldic Collection, Netherlands | ||
| The SØR Rusche Collection, Germany | ||
| University of Maine, Museum of Art, United States | ||
| Private collections in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom & United States | ||