Ackroyd & Harvey: painting with grass and mud

2011

Ackroyd & Harvey's work I came across a decade or so ago and I was fascinated by their ‘living’ landscapes and portraits which lived, which grew, which got older, not in a sinister Dorian Gray manner but rather reflecting the natural and often beautiful aging processes of the subjects. Both landscape and portraiture have traditionally tried to capture a ‘moment’, as if all that mattered was surface dynamics and stasis whilst ignoring the complexities under the surface. 


An Ackroyd & Harvey artwork grows, literally. In this instance from grass seed bringing home the point that we all share to some extent similar natural cycles and that the natural world is worthy of our protection. The works [...] actually [grew] in the gallery from seed (and soil) and [had] a local subject matter in this case houses from the Park Avenue part of Derry and a resident of one of them. The alignment of the panels [...] [mirrored] the angle the buildings are physically on the street. The houses and human subject matter [were] literally [...] part of a vibrant, growing and innovative local landscape. – Gregory McCartney, Curator.

2011

2011

2011

2011

2011

2011-1998

2011-1998

2011-1998

2001

2001

2003

2003

2003

2007

2007

1991

1990

2011 - 2013
London 2012 Mapping the Olympic Park Commission

History Trees
“A tree marks time. This artwork will grow year by year, transform as the seasons change, reflecting the evolving nature of the Olympic Park. These trees embrace metal rings which have been engraved with a record of the site’s history, held in the branches for successive decades to come.”
Ackroyd & Harvey, December 2011

2011 - 2013
London 2012 Mapping the Olympic Park Commission

History Trees