nihilistic optimistic

my beautiful mistake, 2012 

wheelbarrow, two chairs, stool, books, tube of paint, pencil, wood, steel, aluminium, rubber, cotton sheet

nasty pieces of work, 2008-2009 

two wooden stepladders, discarded wood, broken tools, light projector

self-imposed misery, 2010 

wooden stepladder, discarded wood, light projector

wild mood swings, 2009-10 

two wooden stepladders, discarded wood, light projector

youngman, 2012 

wooden stepladder, discarded wood, light projector

tim noble & sue webster 

photo by peter mallet

tim noble and sue webster/nihilistic optimistic

10 october 2012 - 24 november 2012

nihilistic optimistic is tim nboble & sue webster's first major solo exhibition in london since 2006. featuring 6 large scale works, the show builds upon the artists' sustained investigation into self-portraiture, further deconstructing the relationship between materiality & form which has been so intrinsic to their practice.

constructed principally from discarded wood & other materials, the artists describe these sculptures as 'street compositions'. each work appears abstracted or even unfinished as the debris of the artists' studio - gathered sawdust, wood shavings & tools - lie scattered around the sculptures. a sense of urban chaos is implicit within the construction of the surrounding gallery environment.

the exhibition's dualistic title, nihilistic optimistic, responds to the oppositional forces present within these works, & indeed within the artists themselves; the show is at once constructive & destructive, hopeful & despairing. light & shadow, form & absence, figuration & abstraction all inform one another & exist in a constant state of tension.