frolic
Gratrix’ work moves along a horizon between formal and frolic — between precision and play, structure and softness, visibility and care.
They use the phrase “Formal/Frolic” to describe the shifting relationship between the disciplined and the playful within their practice. The formal speaks to structure — to the architectures, systems and materials that shape how art is made and shown. The frolic is its necessary counterpart: queerness, joy, mischief, and care.
The work exists along this horizon. Sometimes it leans into minimalism and order; other times it celebrates humour, intimacy and visibility. The tension or oscillation between these states keeps the practice and the artist buoyant — a reminder that serious work can still hold play, and that play can still hold purpose.
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This inherent queerness, or ‘off-straightness’, is framed using a self-imposed rule of ‘nine inches apart, together, away, repeat’. Enlivening and complicating the artist’s aesthetic and conceptual relationships into a nuanced queer expression.
Gratrix is founding director of Abingdon Studios Ltd (est. 2014) and recipient of the Clore Visual Art Fellowship 2023.
list of artists worked with to date:
Jonathan Baldock, Jordan Baseman, Oliver Bliss, Alice Bradshaw, Jack Brown, Pavel Büchler & Evangelia Spiliopoulou, Mike Carney, Ann Carragher, Jakub Ceglarz, Abi Charlesworth, Mike Chavez-Dawson, Daniel Chong, Harry Clayton-Wright, Jo Clements, Bethany Costerd, Charlotte Cullen, Nicola Dale, Charlotte Dawson, Oliver Doe, Joseph Doubtfire, Tina Dempsey, Jez Dolan, Tracey Emin, Nicola Ellis, Liam Fallon, Craig Fisher, Daniel Fogarty, Andrew Gannon, Parham Ghalamdar, Tom Godfrey, Thomas Griffiths, Sunil Gupta, oe Hancock, Lubaina Himid, Rowland Hill, Dale Holmes, Will Hughes, Thomas Ireland, Derek Jarman, Marie Jones, Nick Jordan, Juneau Projects, David McCleavy, Joanne Masding, Rene Matic, Kelsey Cruz Martin, Darren Nixon, Joe Fletcher-Orr, Narbi Price, Ro Robertson, Short Supply, Emily Stollery, Stuart Semple, Richard Shields, Jayne Simpson, Chester Tenneson, Katie Tomlinson, Anna Tong, Felix González-Torres, Matt Wilkinson, Rafal Zajko.