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The Night Books are a reflection on the months of lock downs; of fearful sleep and the terrible fear that my species cannot respond to, or accept, the changes needed in the relationship between us and nature. The work is a development of my involvement with ‘Two Minutes to Midnight’, an ecological research group based in Paris.
I have long been absorbed by the thought that under our feet is soil of such complexity that we have yet to understand all the effect and affects of the earth; it is a material that carries a language in and through nature.
Now, in a thought-provoking co-commission by Brighton Festival, composers Sally Beamish and Lisa Heute have linked a selection of these letters using a series of pieces for solo cello.
This exhibition features works spanning Newling’s 40 year career, including new work responding to society’s need to evolve in the face of the climate emergency, and living through the global pandemic.
Birmingham-born artist John Newling (b. 1952) is a pioneer of public art with a social purpose. This major exhibition exemplifies his strong environmental proposition, whilst pushing at the boundaries of what defines art.
Launching Artcore Gallery’s opening show post lockdown, exhibiting the work of prominent artist and sculptor, John Newling.
In May 2020 I bought manual soil corer, a tool widely used to take soil samples at varying depths for analysis and research. I am absorbed by the thought that under our feet is a material of such extraordinary complexity. We have yet to understand the languages of the soil.
Trying to find where here is was installed in Tocil Wood, alongside the grounds of Warwick University. It is a permanent work commissioned for the Warwick art collection.
In 2016 I was invited to be resident as part of the Diep Haven residency. I was asked if I may be interested in working with a co-operative of flax farmers based in and around Dieppe.
Value, Coin, Note and Eclipse 2011-2012 has been selected for Criminal Ornamentation: Yinka Shonibare MBE curates the Arts Council Collection.
I showed five works that reconfigured the Moringa Oifera trees grown in the ‘Ecologies of Value’ installation at the Exchange gallery, Penzance.
I installed Eliot’s Note books and Eliot’s Soil in Coventry Cathedral and Eliot’s Last Draft In the Herbert Gallery. Eliot’s Last Draft was a new work made for the Warwick and Coventry edition of this exhibition.
This Hestercombe Gallery exhibition attempts to unearth the unique perspectives and pathways that eight artists have taken in responding to the world around us.
The exhibition is the culmination of a three year project designed to develop a pioneering approach to curating
Eliot’ Soil is a major new work by John Newling. Starting in April 2017 Newling has transformed many copies of The Wasteland into sustainable soil.
‘Be Kind; Be needed; Be loved’ was the final work in my three residency at the Barn in Banchory, Aberdeenshire.
I am delighted to be able to say that Nymans; A Language from the Garden has been received well and is being enjoyed by visitors to the Nymans Garden in West Sussex and by people who have downloaded the Nymans font.
At the end of 2016 I made a work for the Barn in Banchory where I am resident and where the ‘soil laboratory’ is taking place. This is one of many ‘Dear Nature’ letters I have been writing over the last couple of years and continue to write. Each character of the letter is written into a soil bowl. The soils bowls were installed for a couple days as a wall based work. Then there were taken into a large scots pine forest and left as a permanent work. It is always exciting to think of people on occasion happening across this thought in the forest.
In the autumn 2016 my work, Birches and Berries, came to end. This long and intense work sought to grow berries of all sorts between silver birch trees in a large hydroponic tent. It was good to visit the installation once a week and to be part of its maintenance as the trees and berry bushes grew. As with many of my works I was never sure if I would be able to harvest fruits from the installation. As it turned out I was, and it was exciting to be harvesting inside a gallery.
Wayne Burrows interview with John Newling on the the ‘Last Islands’ and ‘Human Nature Table’ works. (Full version).
After a recent successful show at Woodend Barn, Banchory, Aberdeenshire, we're please to announce that the following three works have been acquired for their collection.
Located on the outskirts of Banchory in Aberdeenshire, Woodend Barn is an exceptional venture that looks properly at what art can be within a community. I was delighted to be invited to be an artist in residence there in 2014.
This major exhibition of previously unseen work is a powerful, and visually beautiful, illustration of the ways in which artist John Newling explores the relationships between the natural world and systems of value within society.
Newling’s residency is entitled ‘21st Century Eden’, and from a market stall in the square – the artist’s temporary studio for the month.
‘Exits’ emerged from a conceptual cartography that responded to the drone of the years events seeping into our home.