Oliver Getley

Oliver Getley is a Leeds-based interdisciplinary artist. His expanded sculptural practice is concept and process driven. He uses collaborative and improvisatory techniques to experiment across projects using sound, technology and site-responsive exhibition making. A central concern of his practice is the creation of sculptural encounters through a ‘reverse engineering’ of objects and sites, using formal approaches to found material.

Site Built (2023) explored the rapid redevelopment of Mabgate, Leeds. He developed performance workshops with local students to co-create instruments and scores, then re- designed those prototypes as kinetic sculptures that spread throughout the gallery. He has since moved towards ideas of ‘non-sites’ and a focus on industrially-produced objects being re-used in art, particularly as this connects sculpture to mechanical and digital technologies.

His practice is emergent and interested in artist-led, DIY working and alternative learning methods as politicised approaches to culture-making. Recent self-directed projects and development programmes include, Freehold Project (2019-20), Into the Wild (2020) and Sculpture Network (2022). He has shown across the UK, including at Leeds Art Gallery (2023), Eastside Projects (2022) and Camden Art Centre (2022).

Instagram: @o_getley

UKNA Projects:

New Artist Collective #3 - People, Place and Practice: Four Happenings