Stuart Middleton

Stuart Middleton works in drawing, painting, sculpture, text and animation. His practice continuously raises questions about human nature and systematic behaviour. By using storytelling as a research tool, he examines the themes of responsibility, capital, gender, class and cruelty. Middleton creates spaces where one is able to observe how fiction enters popular culture and provokes social division; how metaphors originate and impact the formation of one’s identity; how violence and aggression come to be institutionally normalised. His eccentric and odd sculptures feature twisted bodies; his installations take the shape of actual mazes; and his texts tell absurd scenarios placed in corporate settings. Middleton’s work is conceptual, surreal, frightening, humorous, and powerfully resistant to artistic conventional classification. ...

Founded in 2013 by Nicole Russo, Chapter NY is committed to supporting artists at various phases in their careers, by providing first solo shows and offering a platform for specific investigations within more established practices. By focusing on solo-presentations and working closely with each artist, Chapter NY helps realize tightly envisioned exhibitions that foster artistic exploration and growth. Russo brings over two decades of gallery experience to actualizing Chapter NY's program, drawing on her longstanding relationships to encourage ambitious presentations. The gallery started as a weekend project space before growing into a full-time operation, first representing artists including Mira Dancy, Willa Nasatir and Adam Gordon. In addition to an expanding gallery roster, Chapter NY has also provided a flexible platform for non-represented artists working across a range of media and experience, such as Keltie Ferris, Jesse Stecklow and Anicka Yi. In doing so, Chapter NY maintains its original mission to present experimental projects beyond the scope of traditional exhibitions. The program includes artists working in site-specific installation, sculpture, ceramics, video, drawing, painting, and photography. Represented artists have recently exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the New Museum, New York; Tate Britain; the Venice Biennale; and Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta; among others. ...