Conor Rogers
2019 FIRST-PRIZE WINNER
Age: 27
Location: Sheffield
Education: Sheffield Hallam University (BA Creative Arts Practice)
Biography
Conor Rogers is an artist based in Sheffield and a graduate of Sheffield Hallam University (2014). He was shortlisted for the John Moores painting prize (2014). The following year he exhibited as a part of the Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2015) at Primary gallery, Nottingham & ICA, London. Conor has exhibited work nationally and internationally, selected shows include Manchester and New York with Paper Gallery (2014), Scottish Queen Gallery, Sheffield (2015). In 2016, He took part in UKYA national festival in Derby, and was chosen to represent the UK at the ‘Mediterranea 18 Young Artists Biennale’ held in Albania (2017). Later that year, he was Shortlisted for the ‘John Ruskin Prize' 2017 and exhibited as part of a group show for the British Council and UKYA in Seoul’s National Assembly, South Korea. In 2018, was showcased in ‘Malevolent Eldritch Shrieking’ curated by Paul Morrison at Attercliffe TM Sheffield. Most recently he was shortlisted for the ‘Agent of Change’ John Ruskin Prize 2019 exhibition in Manchester.
Submitted work
Title: Sticky Fingers
About the work
Conor Rogers focuses primarily on landscapes and domestic scenes in the North of England which are painted directly onto found or constructed materials from the everyday. Specifically for the work in this show he focused on using Ice pop wrappers, unused betting slips and discarded drug baggies. His works of art tend to be influenced by a very personal relationship he has with a time or place, combined with a critical approach towards painting as an object. The subjects of his ideas can touch upon varying concerns/interests towards our everyday British environments, daily happenings, northern council life, cultural identities, and the sense of self in Northern Britain.
Sticky Fingers evolved from a series of three drug baggie paintings I made in 2017. To me, these baggies symbolise memories and experiences of Northern drug culture and social escapism. Once an object of desire, the baggie was left discarded on a street, but in painting it, the object transforms into something desirable again.
Made up of 264 individual plastic baggies glued together, the image depicts one of many drug busts I’ve witnessed on the streets of Sheffield. In making the work, I found the repetitive process of cutting and sticking comparable to other addictive behaviours in society.
