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Rosie Snell – Bath Spa University

Personal statement

Rosie Snell's disquieting landscapes bear the inscriptions of war. A piece of real estate the spoils. Military machinery and installations camouflaged, hidden in the tangled foliage.

In these visions of post-nuclear pastoral, military objects have become monoliths, imbued with a quiet calm. Each machine static but at the same time predatory in its environment, the lack of human presence giving them an unnerving autonomy. Their camouflage appropriates the aesthetics of their surroundings, but can also be read as a language of anxiety and falsehoods.

Increasingly, new concepts and capabilities associated with our information age seem to offer a new type of warfare, a post-heroic warfare without bloodshed. But the fact of war is often a long way from our emotional or intellectual response to it. And however appealing modern theories of 'Clean Warfare'1 are, Clausewitz's stark warning still seems disturbingly current:

"The fact that slaughter is a horrifying spectacle must make us take war more seriously, but not provide an excuse for gradually blunting our swords in the name of humanity. Sooner or later someone will come along with a sharp sword and hack off our arms."

Carl von Clausewitz, 'On War'.

Snell's works are not those of a war artist, presenting a social documentation or conveying a particular political point of view. They encompass both the past and the future, examming concealment, disinformation and the physical and psychological impact war has had and continues to exert upon our environment.

1 Jean Baudrillard, 'The Gulf War did not take place'.

Academic qualifications

  • MA Norwich School of Art and design
  • BA(Hons) Loughborough College of Art and design

Experience

  • 1999 - current Bath Spa University - Senior Lecturer in Fine Art
  • 2009 - 2013 Swansea Metropolitan University - External Examiner
  • 2006 - 2009 Norwich School of Art and Design - Visiting Lecturer in Fine Art 
  • 1998 - 2010 City and Guilds of London Art School - Lecturer in Fine Art
  • 1998 - 1999 The Slade School of Fine Art - Lecturer in Fine Art

Teaching specialism

  • Fine Art Painting

External examiners

  • Swansea Metropolitan University - External Examiner for Fine Art

Current scholarship

  • Switzerland, Fake Chalets - research and series of paintings and prints
  • Avalanches - research
  • Greenland - Research. Series of paintings and drawings
  • Hurtgen - Research. Series of paintings and drawings
  • Maintaining knowledge of contemporary art through exhibition visits in the UK and abroad and related academic research

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce

The Berwick Gymnasium fellowships: an archival record
book

Snell, R (2008) The Berwick Gymnasium fellowships: an archival record. English Heritage / Art Editions North, London. ISBN 9780955747816


Cold War Anglia (2019) [REF2021 collection]
artefact

Snell, R (2021) Cold War Anglia (2019) [REF2021 collection].


Outliers (2018-2019) [REF2021 collection]
artefact

Snell, R (2021) Outliers (2018-2019) [REF2021 collection].


And the Result was Catastrophic (2012) & Transpolar Drift (2015) & Isbrea 1 (2014) & Afternoon Storm (1998) & Bunkerkanonen (2011) & Known Unknowns (2015) & Grüne Hölle (2008)
exhibition

Snell, R (2019) And the Result was Catastrophic (2012) & Transpolar Drift (2015) & Isbrea 1 (2014) & Afternoon Storm (1998) & Bunkerkanonen (2011) & Known Unknowns (2015) & Grüne Hölle (2008). In: Landscapes, No 20 Arts, London, UK, 1 August - 1 September 2019.


Outliers
exhibition

Snell, R (2018) Outliers. No 20 Arts, London, UK, 23 November 2018 - 6 January 2019.


Exhale (1998) & Exiles II (2000)
exhibition

Snell, R (2017) Exhale (1998) & Exiles II (2000). In: Twelve at Number Twenty, No 20, London, UK, 1 February – 12 March 2017.


Stalker (2005)
exhibition

Snell, R (2016) Stalker (2005). In: Norwich Contemporary Arts Society Sixty Years On: Treasures from the Castle's Collection, Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich, UK, 26 September 2016 - March 17.


Human traces on the urban landscape (group exhibition)
exhibition

Snell, R, Fountain, J and Baraitser, A (2013) Human traces on the urban landscape (group exhibition). Stour Space, London, 3 May – 3 June 2013.


Between Two Tides
exhibition

Snell, R and Neudecker, M (2013) Between Two Tides. Motorcade/FlashParade, Bristol, UK, 14 - 23 June 2013.


The Mechanical Hand: 25 Years of Artist's Projects at Paupers Press [group exhibition]
exhibition

Snell, R (2012) The Mechanical Hand: 25 Years of Artist's Projects at Paupers Press [group exhibition]. Kings Place Gallery, London, UK, 27 April - 22 June 2012. ISBN 9781907317583


Command and Control [group exhibition]
exhibition

Snell, R (2008) Command and Control [group exhibition]. Standpoint Gallery, London, UK, 11 July - 9 August 2008.


Back to the Future
exhibition

Snell, R (2008) Back to the Future. Berwick Gymnasium Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK.


Art 2008
exhibition

Snell, R (2007) Art 2008. In: London Art Fair 2008, Business Design Centre, London, 16th - 20th January 2008.


East International 2006
exhibition

Snell, R (2006) East International 2006. Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design. ISBN 1872482805


Frankfurt Art Fair, 2005
exhibition

Snell, R (2005) Frankfurt Art Fair, 2005. .


Realism
exhibition

Snell, R (2003) Realism. Venue: Flowers East, 82 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP.


Everyday is like Sunday
exhibition

Snell, R (2003) Everyday is like Sunday. Vertigo Gallery, London, 2004. ISBN 1903771110


Landscape
exhibition

Snell, R (2002) Landscape. The Saatchi Gallery, London, 22 February 2002 - 17 May 2002. ISBN 0953858766


Highly charged
exhibition

Snell, R (2002) Highly charged. In: Landscape now..., Paton Gallery, London, 2002.


Ground Clearance.
exhibition

Snell, R (2001) Ground Clearance. Venue: Vertigo Gallery, 62 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3QR.


Art 98
exhibition

Snell, R (1998) Art 98. In: London Art Fair, Business Design Centre.


The promised land
exhibition

Snell, R (1997) The promised land. Bond Gallery, Birmingham, 23 August - 12 September 1997.


Rosie Snell
exhibition

Snell, R (1997) Rosie Snell. King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich., 4 September - 4 October 1997.


The lie of the land
exhibition

Snell, R (1997) The lie of the land. Paton Gallery, London, 19 September - 19 October 1997.


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