David Mabb: A Factory As It Might Be or The Hall of Flowers
August 9 – October 12, 2003
Over the past few years, David Mabb has produced paintings based on the work of designer, poet, and essayist William Morris (1834-96). A committed socialist, Morris believed that new manufacturing technologies alienated people from nature and from one another, and that industrialization removed workers from the creatiive aspects of craftsmanship. In this exhibition, six Morris wallpaper designs and nine paint colours provide the background for Mabb's paintings and videos. He examines Morris's designs and ideas relative to narious utopian visions of the future. The title of the exhibition suggests Morris's desire to transform industrial societies into a paradise.

Curated by James Patten

A catalogue was published with essays: Factory as It Might be or The Hall of Flowers by James Patten; Dialectics at a Standstill: The Art of David Mabb by Colin Mooers; and Introductory Notes on A Factory as it Might be or the Hall of Flowers‚ by myself (ISBN 0919837689). Three of the paintings were produced whilst Abbey Fellow in Painting at The Rome School in 2003 and the video Archive was produced for a residency and exhibition Further Up In The Air, Liverpool, as part of the Liverpool Biennale in 2002. Ten paintings from A Factory As It Might Be or The Hall Of Flowers were later exhibited as Useless Work Versus Useless Toil at Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto in 2004.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/5548