ANDREW BICK BRIDGES ART, HISTORY AND CULTURAL REINTERPRETATION

'It is exciting to see younger artists adapting the same model with an equal commitment to working outside common assumptions. So, the short answer would be a lot separates Oriental and Western approaches, but my interest is in how contemporary art can find new connections between them.'

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A ndrew Bick, a distinguished artist, curator, and academic, seamlessly bridges the realms of contemporary art, historical research, and cultural reinterpretation.

Born in Coleford, Gloucestershire, in 1963, Bick holds the position of Professor of Contemporary Art and Reinterpretation at the University of Gloucestershire while maintaining a thriving artistic practice in London.

With works housed in renowned collections like The British Museum, Haus Konstruktiv Zurich, and Yale Center for British Art, Bick is celebrated for his explorations of geometry, systems, and the interplay of modernist legacies.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Guardian, Andrew Bick shares his reflections on contemporary art, the challenges of curation in a post-pandemic world, his mentorship of Indian artist Dr. Mandakini Devi, and his ongoing research on British Constructionist artists Anthony Hill, Jeffrey Steele, and Gillian Wise.

Excerpts Q. Tell us about your association with the Indian artist Dr.

Mandakini Devi. What are your thoughts on her work at large? A. Well, I was Mandakini's lead supervisor for her PhD at University of Gloucestershire, completed in 2018.

Her recent solo exhibition Fractured and Lensicular was a clear development of the work she made with lightboxes and projected moving image installation for her PhD. Focusing on the hybridity of her work, between collage, painting and lens-based media, has also allowed Devi to simultaneously reconnect the archetypal ideas of Goddesses and Modernist legacies of India and the West, using image making techniques only possible through new technology. The result is a multi-layered approach to meaning; disruptive, feminist, serious and playful at the same time.