Art Space Gallery together with the Finnish Institute in London, Finnish Embassy, and Michael Richardson, is pleased to present Sketchbooks – Revelation, an exhibition by Elisa Alaluusua, exploring and presenting sketchbooks by four diverse artists: Nigel Hall, Eileen Hogan, Dale Inglis and Michael Sandle. The exhibition is based on in-depth interviews conducted over several years during Alaluusua’s PhD research on sketchbooks.

The sketchbook has been at the heart of the creative process for centuries and despite digital advances that may offer alternative ways to develop an idea or capture a fleeting moment, they remain an essential tool. And although Alaluusua has detected a surge of interest in sketchbooks as new books on the subject are published and sketchbooks now regularly find their way into exhibitions, a huge dilemma remains: how can sketchbooks be exhibited and shared with the public?

Alaluusua resolves this dilemma by filming and recording individual artists talking about their sketchbook practice and presenting it as a video installation: To date there are 13 individual videos all having the same uniquely constructed format: a continuous sequence of sketchbook pages projected onto a screen or monitor together with a recording of the artist’s response as they leaf through the pages. Instead of ‘talking heads’ on a screen, sequences of sketchbook pages are revealed as the viewer listens to the artist’s innermost thoughts. Through this discreet approach, developed over two decades of working with video, Alaluusua has been able to access material previously undisclosed. 

Art Space Gallery will present a unique version of Alaluusua’s sketchbooks exhibition. It will concentrate on just four artists and for the first time, each video will be juxtaposed with actual works by the artist involved. In Sketchbooks – Revelation creative collaboration has found yet again a new, fresh reincarnation for the project and an invitation for further creative thinking on the theme of sketchbooks.