Alex Pearl

Alex Pearl makes mini epic films, video installations, sculpture and books. Throughout his work there is a sense of an acceptance of failure or disappointment as important parts of the human condition. Using readily available materials and software the films are made from: suddenly apprehended ideas, discovered objects and impromptu processes. They are comparable with the sketch or doodle, an initial throwaway idea made visible. They make light with big issues and are in turn haunting and funny. His sculpture is fragile, temporary and has the appearance of being on the verge of collapse or already broken. The work displays playfulness with its own limitations and a hopeless desire for greatness. There is an openness in his practice. Works are freely available online and are often submitted to the harsh criticism of the YouTube and blogging communities where pieces are often reworked under the public gaze.

Education:
BA hons Fine Art, UCE Birmingham
MA History of Art & Design, UCE Birmingham
Current & Upcoming
Little Rituals, Terminus Projects, Sydney (solo screening)
Artist in residence, BCA Gallery, Bedford ( + solo exhibition)
Little Deaths, Salt Gallery, Hayle, (solo)
Selected Exhibitions, Screenings & Film Festivals
2007
Intermix, Pavilion, Leeds
Vane Shorts, Vane, Newcastle
RSVP, Contemporary Artists at the Foundling Museum, London (commission & exhibition)
Time Based Media Invitational, Artspace, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Demolition, Site, Liverpool
Joking Aside, Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery
Black Light, Colony, Birmingham
700IS Experimental Film & Video Festival, Culture Centre of Fljotsdalsherad, Egilsstadir, Iceland (and touring to Reykjavik, St Petersburg, Arizona and Alsager)
One Minute Film & Video Festival, Aarau, Switzerland
Digifestival, 2007, Florence
Experimenta 2007, Bangalore & Mumbai
Fresh, South Hill Park, Bracknell
Edge, Kings Lynn
2006
Drawing Links, The Drawing Room, London & Touring to Outpost, Norwich, International3, Manchester
Hun Gallery International, Hun Gallery, New York
Canvas Cinema, Explore, (Aspex Gallery off site projects), Portsmouth (solo screening)
Purescreen, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Tulca, Visual Arts festival, Galway
60 seconds of Play. Saltworks Gallery, Atlanta, Savannah, Delhi (Touring)
Sideshow, Nottingham (Solo)
The Vending Machine Project, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (multiples project)
The Moving Picture Show, BCA Gallery, Bedford
Parkgewusel Festival, Vienna, Austria
Darklight, Dublin
Izolenta ’06, International Digital Film Festival, Museum of Cinema, St Petersburg
Streaming Festival {The Hague}, Netherlands
2nd Athens Video Art Festival, Athens, Greece
D>Art.06, dLux Media Arts, Sydney, Australia
37 Seconds, BBC Big Screen Liverpool, Clayton Square, Liverpool
2005
Regeneration, WAG at St Mary at the Quay, Ipswich
About Space, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham
Trampoline, Reactor, Nottingham
L’Alternativa 2005, 12th Independent Film Festival of Barcelona, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona.
Extra Short Film Festival, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Awards:
2006/7
Selected artist - Escalator Visual Arts, Commissions East
Supported by the Arts Council