David Bellingham lives and works in Glasgow. He is an artist who works in a number of different fields including drawing and painting, artist’s books, photography, film, installation and sound art. Much of his output is textual in form – early works being visual and concrete poetry but later introducing aspects of conceptual art.
Having worked early in his career with Ian Hamilton Finlay, David Harding, Pavel Buchler, Thomas Joshua Cooper and Rodger Palmer – Bellingham has created a wide range of works alongside the creation of a publishing house in WAX366 (named after the registration of his beloved car).
This archive of books, cards, editions and original works has been created by Paul Robertson since first meeting Bellingham in 2000. Robertson and Bellingham have worked together on a number of exhibitions and project including the highly significant TURNOUT project where Bellingham re-wrote the entire vote of the first ever Scottish Parliament election – a phenomenal effort on the part of the artist who had to draw over 2 million Xs to complete the project in Robertson’s Heart Gallery in Edinburgh in 2005.
There are nearly 150 items in this collection – many of the books are unique hand made items and some of the artist’s earliest works from 1997 onwards are included in the group.
The archive may be for sale both as a collection or as individual items – please email mail@unoriginalsins.com to discuss further.
MANCHESTER PAVILION. 2001.
Glasgow: Wax366, 2001
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp artist postcard with a colour photograph of the window of the "Manchester" pavilion during the 2001 Venice Biennale. A neon says Manchester and is lit in red (a bit like the red light district curtains). A second card was released two years later with a blue curtain. VG+.
NOVEMBER 5TH. 2001.
Glasgow: Wax366, 2001BR>
8.4 x 13cm, 2pp artist postcard issued near the British bonfire night - November 5th. The tradition of remembrance of the "Gun Powder Plot" where Guy Fawkes planned to destroy the British parliament as a rebellion against the Protestant leadership. The word EMBER is shown in red on the card within the NOVEMBER - a reference to those bonfires. VG+.
THE TELEGRAPH POLE OUR NATIONAL TREE. 2003. SIGNED ON THE REVERSE BY BELLINGHAM.
Glasgow: WAX366, 2003
29 x 13cm, 2pp offset green and brown lithographic print with an abstract image of a telegraph pole - the joke being that such a construction is Scotland's national tree. The text is in green and the "pole" in brown creating a visual poem. Signed on the back by Bellingham. VG+.
YEAR. 2004. SIGNED BY THE ARTIST.
Glasgow: Wax366, 2004
12 x 21cm, 2pp black and red on white card with a text: "YEAR. It appears in its proper dimensions only from the outside, it gains strength from time and elevation from distance." A new year gift from the artist to friends and colleagues - this is signed "Best wishes, David" on the back. VG+.
IDEAS LEAVE OBJECTS STANDING. 2005.
Newcastle: Baltic, 2005 22 x 17.5cm, unpaginated (c. 94pp) plus printed boards. Artist's book by the Scottish artist which displays his fascination with measurement, and the most minimal elements of discourse i.e. the letter or individual word. At his best Bellingham takes visual poetry and brings it into the sphere of conceptual art. One of 1,500 copies. Fine.
TURNOUT. 2005.
Edinburgh: Show & Tell Editions, 2005
15 x 10.2cm, 32pp plus printed card covers. Artist's book from Scottish artist, David Bellingham that solely consists of 4,668 reproductions of hand drawn crosses and an illustration of a ballot box.
There are strictly 500 hand-numbered copies of this book - aside from one unique book (no. 1) within the edition which corrects the entire number of crosses to exactly represent the total number of votes cast in Scotland during the May 5th 2005 General Election (2,333,882).
Conceptual work and/or concrete poem, this is a peon to democracy and a metaphor of the substantial effort required in maintaining openness in society. If ever there was time to remind ourselves of the importance of our pluralist societies, it is now.
ABSTENTION. 2005.
Edinburgh: Show & Tell Editions, 2005
14.5 x 21cm, 2pp. artist’s postcard as edition. The Scottish Parliament is show overlaid with red “x”s - the postcard was issued in a small number of copies during the period when Bellingham took a break from making his major work TURNOUT at the Heart Gallery, Edinburgh where he re-wrote the entire number of Xs cast in the Scottish 2003 Scottish parliamentary election by hand. "Abstention" is a counterpart to the "Turnout” project and represents the
50.7% of people who did not vote during the 2003 election.
EDINBURGH SECTIONS. 2005. UNIQUE WORK.
15 x 20.5cm, acrylic paint on white board. An original painting by Bellingham in three colours of blue - the shapes being the sky seen through the gaps in the foliage of trees. On the back the work is addressed to Paul Robertson and has a stamp but it was never posted but hand delivered. VG+. Unique.
LEPORELLO #05. 2005.
Copenhagen: Langtborsistan, 2005
10.4 x 7.8cm, 8pp plus folded round card covers. Leporello Artist's book reproducing eight of Bellingham's paintings of the "gaps between" - the sky seen through the foliage in a tree plus one image of a painting on the bark of a silver birch. Rather lovely. VG+.
FOR THE LAST 366 – FOR THE NEXT 365. 2005. SIGNED BY BELLINGHAM.
Glasgow: Wax 366, 2005 17 x 12cm, 2pp. artist's postcard with 364 "days" and one "year" in the artist's facsimile hand. A new years card from Bellingham which has "best wishes, David" in pencil on the back. With original handwritten mailing envelope. VG+.
LOOKING OUT. LOOKING IN. 2006. SIGNED BY BELLINGHAM.
Glasgow: Wax366, 2006
15 x 21cm, 2pp artist postcard with a black and white visual poem (with aspects of ying and yang) representing the passing of the year and beginning of the new sent as a gift to friends and colleagues. This example is signed on the back in red ink. VG+.
TURNOUT POSTER. 2006.
Edinburgh: Show & Tell Editions, 2006
42 x 29.7cm, red and black on white offset lithograph - exhibition poster for Bellingham's Turnout project which took place in Heart Gallery over several weeks where the artist recreated the first Scottish direct elections in 300 years by rewriting by hand the 1,916,594 crosses that comprised the voting in those elections. Design by Bellingham - this is one of the 100 unsigned posters designed by Belling to promote the exhibition. Fine.