Sam Porritt
Grist To The Mill
2016
Aluminium, motor, bearings, steel, paint, pigment ink
95 x 260 x 25 cm
VITRINE, London
Photographer Jonathan Bassett
Sam Porritt
Out of Place
2019
Installation view
Paradise Works
Video by Gwen Evans
Sam Porritt is an artist living and working in Zurich, Switzerland. Referencing both individual and shared histories, his work in drawing, sculpture, text and the moving image is largely concerned with human agency and its associated ethical implications. What can at first appear to be unconnected ideas and questions articulated in disparate ways are in fact often the same intractable problems only viewed from different perspectives. Added to this is his underlying interest in producing things that stand-alone, artworks that require little if any corroborating information outside of themselves.
Porritt’s recent works, including ‘Grist To The Mill’ (2016), focus his parallel investigations into sculpture and drawing and have been preoccupied with the idea of progress, what progress means for an individual and the society in which they live.
Sam Porritt (b. 1979, London, UK) graduated with a BFA in sculpture from the Chelsea School of Art and Design (2002). In 2005 he received his Post Graduate Diploma from the Royal Academy Schools, London. He was selected for the Swiss Art Awards 2017 and his book ‘ASSEMBLY – Cast of Characters’ was published by SIDE ISSUES, Zurich, CH (2015).
He has been exhibited internationally at triennials, institutions, galleries and fairs including: Museum Bellpark, Kriens, CH; 17th Tallinn Print Triennial, Tallinn, EE; South London Gallery, London, UK; DAMA 2019, Turin, IT; Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, IS; Paradise Works, Manchester, UK ; VITRINE, Basel, CH; VITRINE, London, UK; INDIANA, Vevey, CH; CAN, Neuchâtel, CH; The Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK; Toves, Copenhagen, DK; Q. Projects, Amsterdam, NL; Foundation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette, Paris, FR; Arcade Fine Arts, London, UK; MONA, Tasmania, AUS; SALTS, Basel CH; CIRCUIT, Lausanne, CH; c.o.m.p.o.s.i.t.e, Brussels, BE; Frutta, Rome, IT; Naming Rights, London, UK; 100 plus, Zurich, CH; MOK, Rotterdam, NL; PEER, London, UK; Anne Mosserie-Marlio Gallery, Zurich, CH.
He has curated the exhibitions ‘What’s in a Band? Eyes, Ears, Mouth & Nose!’ at Corner College, Zurich, CH (2012) and ‘Oneself As Another’, at K3 Project Space, Zurich, CH (2011).
Forthcoming exhibitions include the group show ‘Annemarie von Matt — widerstehlich’ at Nidwaldner Museum, Stansstad, CH opening Friday 6 March 2020.