Contact: gavin.rogers@wlv.ac.uk
Twitter: @Gavin_J_R
Instagram: @gavin.rogers
Studio: A3 Project Space,
Address: Unit A3, 2 Bowyer Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B10 0SA
Gavin Rogers is an international socially engaged artist, performer and researcher. His practice is situated across a range of media, but at present is exploring the idea of social sculptures – large moving sculptures that raise awareness of important social and public issues. In the past year Gavin has made alcoholic elephants float on canals, migrant storks nest on buildings, and capitalist eels that cruise across the West Midlands on wheels. Gavin has particular interest in discovering personal, social, geographical and political identities though visual, textual and verbal languages.
Previously Gavin was known for his works surrounding local and national identities, which aim to rediscover, de-mystify and rebrand socio-political issues. Gavin is remembered by many as the man who wore only red, white and blue clothes for an entire year, touring the UK, East to West in a Union Jack flagged car, collecting conversations and video from staged encounters along the way. Since then he has made a lot of community based work, which in recent years has culminated in sculptures that raise awareness of subjects such as alcoholism and migration.
Since then, Gavin’s work has moved towards the consideration of city identities, working in Barcelona (Spain), Melbourne (Australia), Nottingham (UK), Leeds (UK) and Sheffield (UK). Gavin has worked with a number of well known art institutions including YSP, Stryx Gallery Birmingham, MAC Arts Centre, TATE Liverpool, Somerset House, Nottingham Contemporary, University of Melbourne, Confest, Birmingham School of Art, Contemporary Art Sydney and Coventry Biennial of Contemporary Art.
Alongside his artistic practice Gavin runs workshops, seminars, lectures and teaching sessions within and outside of academia including: being the curator of the USA to UK Creative Exchange for Fulbright Scholars, coordinating the National Art Saturday Club and being a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art (Public Art and Sculpture) at the Wolverhampton School of Art.
