BasementArtsProject

Michael Borkowsky & Emilia Telese
Desire & Alchemy

PREVIEW
Friday 19th October | 7.30pm – 9.30pm

Lunchtime Conversation: Culture Vulture Podcast by Richard Horseman

Desire and Alchemy will be the first collaborative exhibition between Michael Borkowsky and Emilia Telese that will draw upon their practice as both perfumers and artists. This exhibition proposes that our sense of smell is a powerful mode of communication, with as much a capacity to explore artistic practice as the more established senses of vision and hearing.

Desire and Alchemy will see Borkowsky expand his Perfume as Practice project, delivering 15 speculative perfume portraits of artists. Over 3 years as a ‘Fine Art Perfumer’ Borkowsky has – through a method of intuition and investigation - created this unusual series of portraits. Alongside this, examining her own ‘Scents of Self’, Emilia Telese will be creating an immersive installation focussing on pattern, body style and sense of smell, through the very real physical body associated with her practice. In Scents of Self, the viewer is invited to touch the artwork to reveal a number of secret scents.

In addition, Michael Borkowsky and Emilia Telese have created the perfume triptych “Past, Present, Future”, a joint artwork fusing their visions towards scent and time.

Exhibition Open

Exhibition Remains Open By Appointment until…

Monday 19th November

Lunchtime Conversation:
Michael Borkowsky and (via Skype) Emilia Telese

Monday 5th November

About Michael Borkowsky

Michael Borkowsky (b. Shrewsbury, 1986) grew up in Telford, Shropshire and later studied Fine Art at the University of Chester. Initially a painter, he later developed an interest in the role of painters and began working with both painting and installation.

While studying an MA in Fine Art at Gyndwr University, Wrexham, he became interested in representing scent in work alongside a furthered investigation into the roles and perceptions of artists. In 2012 he moved to Sheffield where he has been based ever since.

His solo exhibitions include shows at Yorkshire Artspace, KIAC and Access Space, Sheffield. His involvement in group exhibitions includes devising and curating shows at Exchange Place Studios and Millennium Galleries, Sheffield. Other group exhibitions include shows at Huddersfield Media Centre, Tate Liverpool, Arena Gallery Liverpool and The Crypt Gallery, London. He has also exhibited in 5 international group shows.

Perfume as Practice looks at the craft of perfumery and how it can be used as a platform for portraiture. Perfume as Practice has taken the guise of solo exhibitions at Bank Street Arts, Sheffield and Surface gallery, Nottingham as well as a residency at Orchard Square, Sheffield. Other olfactive endeavours include a scent trail housed at The Tetley in 2016 and perfume making workshops that Michael stages across the UK.

About Emilia Telese

Emilia Telese (Italy, 1973) is an award-winning artist, writer and academic. A graduate of the 600-year-old Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, living in the UK since 1997, her practice spans several art forms, from interactive and body-responsive technology, film and live art to installation and public art. She has exhibited worldwide since 1994, including at TATE Britain, the Royal Festival Hall London, the Venice Biennale, the Louvre, Paris, Ars Electronica Linz Austria, ZKM Karlsruhe Germany, the Freud Museum, London and many more.