Jonathan Baldock | The Gathering
Earlier this year a new installation by Jonathan Baldock titled The Gathering was unveiled at sketch in Mayfair. In this new site-specific display, Baldock’s ceramic maskes and textile-ceramic hybrid flowers inhabit India Mahdavi’s iconic yellow interior, continuing sketch’s tradition of inviting artists to transform its spaces. Baldock’s installation follows presentations by artists including David Shrigley, Yinka Shonibare and Martin Creed, creating a playful dialogue between the theatricality of the restaurant and his enigmatic, tactile forms.
At the core of the installation is a display of 84 works from Baldock’s Maske series which encircle the room. Arranged in a continuous, staggered configuration, the masks create a hypnotic visual rhythm that activates the room. Rippling sheets of clay suggest folds of skin, while carved recesses and protruding forms show eyes, ears and nostrils. Some masks articulate universal emotions; others merely whisper the suggestion of a personality. Variations in temperament emerge through the artist’s experiments with ceramic techniques: coloured clays, painterly glazes and firings at different temperatures give rise to lustrous surfaces, gritty textures and earthen, melancholic tones.
Around the bar, Baldock presents a selection of sculptural works from his Flowers series, with two additional pieces welcoming guests at the reception. These works draw from the artist’s personal history, his relationship with his mother, her garden and the emotional landscapes that shaped him. Flowers bloom into faces and blossoms morph into bodies that are humorous and tender. These pieces carry the theatricality and camp sensibility for which Baldock is celebrated - they are playful, expressive and never quite what they first appear to be.
Suspended within the central dome, works from Baldock’s Warm Inside installation introduce an atmospheric, soaring focal point. Created through labour-intensive processes of wool spinning, plant dyeing and basket-weaving, the cocoons highlight the intimate relationship between body, material and craft. Weaving himself, quite literally, into a thousand-year-old tradition, Baldock positions these forms in a cyclical dialogue between ancient techniques, personal memory and contemporary sculpture.
The Gathering is available to view by appointment. Please write to us to arrange a viewing.
Jonathan Baldock | The Gathering
until summer 2027
sketch
9 Conduit Street, London W1S 2XG