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Mel Brimfield[edit]

Mel Brimfield (b. 1976) is a contemporary performance artist from London, UK. Brimfield's work comprises of a 'diverse interdisciplinary collaborative practice... rooted in scripted performance, incorporating live work, moving image, staged audio, installation, photography and drawing.'[1]

Life[edit]

Brimfield was born in 1976 in Oxford, England.[2] Between 1995-1998 she studied at Bath Spa University College where she obtained her BA degree.[3] She later achieved her MA degree at Chelsea College of Art and Design, studying between 1999-2000.[3]

Brimfield is currently a Senior Tutor of Contemporary Art Practice MA at the Royal College of Art.[1]

She lives and works in London.[2]

Career[edit]

Visual art remains the focus of Brimfield's work with her niche being in performance pieces with a contemporary angle and a diverse twist.[4] She also constructs art using photographic and film media.[4]

When discussing Brimfield for Art Monthly, David Briers said:

Brimfield has done for the history of performance art what Henry Reed's fictional composer Hilda Tablet did for modern music on the Third Programme in the 1950s, what the inimitable entertainers Anna Russell and Joan Turner did for opera, and what the comedian Billy Dainty did for classical ballet.[4]

Brimfield's 2012 artwork 4’ 33” (Prepared Pianola for Roger Bannister) is an automated piano that played music composed by Paul Higgs.[5] The artwork's underlaying narrative focuses on Sir Roger Bannister, a British athlete who competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics finishing in fourth place.[5] The music performed by the piano within this artwork narrates the story of the race incorporating fragments of other music such as the National Anthem and the Ski Sunday theme tune.[5] The artwork was a commission from the Government Art Collection who asked Brimfield to produce something interactive that related to sport.[6] On discussing the artwork, Brimfield said 'I think there's something quite British about... noble striving rather than success, so I guess I wanted to make some sort of monument to that'.[6]

In 2013, Brimfield's exhibition Death and Dumb was displayed at the John Hansard Gallery from 7th September- 2nd November, in association with artSOUTH: collaborations.[7] In this exhibition Brimfield presented a comical take on the history of performance art through a series of films and instillations.[7] The work included interpretations of a variety of notable artists including Jackson Pollock, Dickie Beau, and Joanna Neary.[7] In the exhibition Brimfield told fictitious versions of the featured artist's histories, a common trend in her work blending fact with fiction, often through parody and satire.[7]

Brimfield collaborated with singer/songwriter Gwyneth Herbert in 2014 to produce Barbara and Henry- The Musical, a performance about a relationship between sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.[8] Barbara and Henry... was on display at Site Gallery between 18th November- 13th December.[8] For this exhibition the gallery space was turned into a theatre set including props and backdrops, with an element of transparency for visitors allowing them to see behind the scenes material of how the performance was developed.[8] The exhibition also included a replica of Moore's Perry Green studio as well as works including maquettes.[8] Audience submissions were also included in the display.[8] A recording studio was also constructed in the smaller gallery showing archival footage of Moore and Hepworth intertwined with Brimfield and Herbert to distort the reality of the films.[8] In the same year Brimfield also worked with Herbert to produce The Palace That Joan Built, a musical based on the life of Joan Littlewood.[9] Brimfield has described the work as a 'musical documentary'.[9] A performance of songs from the musical were performed at Stratford Station in London with the East London Brass and members of the Upbeat Choir.[9]


In 2018 Brimfield completed a residency at Somerset House Studios.[10] She says that the residency allowed opportunity for further artistic development:

‘I’d reached something of a welcome hiatus after 5 years of back-to-back production of projects when I moved into Somerset House Studios. It’s been a chance to review and extend my modes of collaborative practice, and to find and test new partnerships and subjects without the constrictive structuring necessitated by tightly themed commissions. As an artist working independently, it can be challenging to engineer the sort of interdisciplinary support and presentation structures I need for my script-based performance work – being part of a visible community of similarly hard to categorise artists adds legitimacy!'[11]

Brimfield produced artworks for the Somerset House exhibition Good Grief, Charlie Brown! on display 25 October- 3 March.[12] These works were created in response to Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic and contained self-portrayed cartoons in Schulz's style.[12] In the production of these works, Brimfield carefully considered the role and purpose of therapy and one's relationship to their subconscious. Other themes explored in the exhibition included 'existentialism, feminism, gender fluidity, race, politics, religion, happiness, war and psychiatry'.[12]

Brimfield's Talking Heads exhibition was commissioned and displayed at Attenborough Arts Centre between 19th January- 17th April 2019.[13] For this project Brimfield collaborated with Professor Sukhwinder Shergill and the Department of Psychosis Studies at King's College London to create 'a series of ambitious binaural audio monologue artworks exploring the phenomenon of hearing voices frequently associated with schizophrenia and psychosis.'[14] For this project, Brimfield took a hands-on approach by observing patients and their treatments as well as first hand consultations.[14] From this research she produced a series of artworks based on the experiences of patients, expressing their symptoms such as hallucinations and psychosis.[14] Some of these works were adapted into live performances written and performed by David Cann.[14]

Exhibitions, Literature & Selected Works[edit]

Selected Collaborative Projects[edit]

Literature[edit]

  • 'Radio Radio', Sally O’Reilly, Art Monthly, 277/39, 2004[15]
  • 'Radio Radio', curated by Mel Brimfield and produced with Gross Studios, published by Revolver, Frankfurt, 2004[15]
  • 'Our Comic Book', edited by Mel Brimfield with Dominic Chennell, Revolver, Frankfurt, 2007[15]
  • 'Preview', the Guardian Guide 9/06/07[15]
  • 'Kapow!', Henry Northmore, The List 2-5/08/07[15]
  • 'The Comic Book project', The List 9-16/08/07[15]
  • 'Whizz Bang wallop: what a visual feast', Edinburgh art Festival roundup, Jack Mottram, The Herald 31/08/07[15]
  • 'Comic Book rewrites rules', Susan Mansfield, The Scotsman review 14/09/07[15]
  1. ^ a b "Mel Brimfield". RCA Website. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  2. ^ a b Society, Contemporary Art. "Mel Brimfield". Contemporary Art Society. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  3. ^ a b "Mel Brimfield Biography – Mel Brimfield on artnet". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mel Brimfield". Somerset House. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  5. ^ a b c "Mel Brimfield | Borough of Culture". wfculture19.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  6. ^ a b "Mel Brimfield". Somerset House. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  7. ^ a b c d e "John Hansard Gallery | What's on | Mel Brimfield". John Hansard Gallery. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Mel Brimfield and Gwyneth Herbert: Barbara and Henry – The Musical". Site Gallery. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  9. ^ a b c The Underground, Art On (27/04/14). "Art on the Underground: The Palace That Joan Built by Mel Brimfield and Gwyneth Herbert". YouTube. Retrieved 13/02/21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "Mel Brimfield". Business Westminster. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  11. ^ "Mel Brimfield". Business Westminster. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  12. ^ a b c "Take that, Charlie Brown! The artists putting the pain into Peanuts". the Guardian. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  13. ^ "Talking Heads by Mel Brimfield - Exhibition at Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester". ArtRabbit. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  14. ^ a b c d "King's College London - Talking heads". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Mel Brimfield Biography – Mel Brimfield on artnet". www.artnet.com. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  16. ^ "Mel Brimfield: This Is Performance Art - Exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield". ArtRabbit. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  17. ^ "Check out Mel Brimfield's exhibition at Ceri Hands Gallery at new London project space". Fierce Festival. 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  18. ^ "Mel Brimfield: Death and Dumb - Exhibition at Void Gallery in Londonderry". ArtRabbit. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
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