Simon Woolham's work is concerned primarily with occupied spaces and the narratives that unfold in them. His drawings of school playing fields, junked underpasses and the like often contain text with the tone of dialogue. Through these glimpses of speech the dilapidated environments come to life in a skint version of enchantment: a tree stump or a broken fence, are filled with the meanings of the events that go on around and about them. In his attempts to unearth this unpredictable and fragile process of memory, he uses biro drawings, models, animation, video and text. His series of films focus on recurring motives that feature in the work and bring to life a series of landscapes that are digitally manipulated and made to move. Before each scene a title screen announces a name for the landscape, these scenes are then modified to show some minor action in repetitive motion. These subtle movements such as a flicking light or a clicking tree suggesting Morse code humorously draw attention to the miniscule, the enhanced sound of each action dramatizing life's kinetic force.

Since graduating from Chelsea College of Art with an M.A. in 2000 Woolham has had shows and residencies both nationally and internationally. His first solo show was at the Hoxton Distillery Gallery in London at the end of 2000. This was followed by numerous group shows including Becks Futures student prize at the ICA, Pizza Express drawing prize, Oriel Mostyn 11, where he was the prize winner in 2001, and other group shows in Belfast, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Madrid. Since then he has had solo shows at The Lowry Gallery, which was also part of a commission and residency and Floating IP Gallery in Manchester, he was also in 2005’s emergency 05 at Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth and Perspectives 05 in Belfast.

During 2006 Woolham completed a BALTIC/ Creative Partnerships residency, this was followed by a residency at the National Glass Centre and was also commissioned for a Per Cent for Art residency/public art project in Ireland. In 2007 as well as having numerous group shows including ‘Paper Cuts’ a touring show curated by Yasmin Canvin, Woolham was The Museum of Garden History ‘Artist in Residence’ curated by Danielle Arnaud and funded by Arts Council England, culminating in a show and publication. Also in 2007 he had solo shows at BLOC space in Sheffield and Leicester City Art Gallery. For 2008 he has been commissioned by Animate and RSA Arts and Ecology, and making new site specific work for a project with Danielle Arnaud for the up and coming Tatton Park Biennial where his work will be ‘invading’ the parks formal gardens.

www.darkcorner.co.uk

www.daniellearnaud.com/projects/projects-index.html
www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram/portfolio.cfm
www.freewaves.org/video/index.php?id=5418&artistPage=1
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A24030497
www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=12273
www.blocprojects.co.uk/programme/exhibitions/2007/simon-woolham/
http://archive.balticmill.com/index.php?termid=37585
www.tattonparkbiennial.org