Michael Dean

Michael Dean’s work originates in an enquiry into language and the designation of meaning. The interstice, or gap, between producing an object or telling a story and its reception by an audience is a fertile one, the key to Dean’s practice. Dwelling upon this gap as a source of proliferation of meaning, For the exhibition We Will Live We Will See, July-August 2011 the artist created an installation in response to one of the smaller galleries at 176 Prince of Wales Road. The works find their starting point in Dean’s response to the act of crossing a threshold and entering a space. The artist has translated the typographic form of the word ‘door’ into a mould for his sculptures. On the floor is a small book, the pages of which show a drawing of a spider with the word ‘door’ intertwined in its spindly legs. Throughout his practice, Dean addresses our intimate and tacit understanding of space, drawing attention to the subtleties that inform our movement and presence. Dean was born 1977, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, lives and works in London, UK and holds a BA from Goldsmiths.