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1/10/2004

Carlos Capelan and Elizabeth Magill

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead

Elizabeth Magill - Recent Paintings
2 October – 28 November 2004

BALTIC presents the most comprehensive exhibition of work to date, by acclaimed artist, Elizabeth Magill. Best known for her experimental landscape paintings in oil, Magill continually invents and re-invents her use of paint. This exhibition includes a large selection of recent paintings, which demonstrate the artist's intense understanding of her chosen medium and her desire to test the limits of what is possible with paint on canvas.

Incorporating abstract mark making with figurative painting, Magill's paintings have a haunting beauty, infused with a sense of memory and loss. She uses a range of photographic techniques as inspiration, the process often beginning with a photograph of a place she has visited. Through methods of pouring, dripping and rubbing colour into her canvases, Magill's finished paintings appear weathered and distressed. For example, in Land of the Dusky Sow (2003), a cluster of trees is formed from a purple bruising of paint that dominates the centre of the painting and typically, spatters of yellow and orange paint flecks dance on the surface.

Both lyrical and melancholic, Magill's works are not transcriptions of the real world, but are drawn ultimately from her own imagination and memories – particularly those of the glens and coastline of County Antrim, Northern Ireland where she spent most of her childhood. Magill comments, 'I'm not so much painting what is there but what I imagine might be there. These works are not landscapes as such, but more like suggested backdrops to how I feel, think and interpret the world'.

Elizabeth Magill was born in Canada. She studied at the Belfast College of Art & Design in 1982, followed by an MA at the Slade School of art in 1984; she has lived and worked in London ever since.

A fully illustrated catalogue with texts by Andrew Wilson and Tim Etchells accompanies the exhibition and is available from the BALTIC shop. An Exhibition talk by Godfrey Worsdale, Director of mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), takes place on Thursday 11 November from 18.30-19.30, in the ground floor art space. The talk is FREE, but pre-booking is essential. Please telephone 0191 478 1810 or email events@balticmill.com

This exhibition is produced by Ikon Gallery, Birmingham and can be seen in BALTIC's ground floor art space from 2 October – 28 November.

This exhibition opens at the same time as an exhibition by artist Carlos Capelán. Onlyyou, also opening to the public on Saturday 2 October, is presented in level 2 art space.
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Carlos Capelán, onlyyou
2 October – 28 November 2004

BALTIC presents a major solo exhibition of work by Carlos Capelán. onlyyou is a playful exploration into issues of self and this series of new works includes wall drawings, video, photography, sculpture and installation.

The art of Carlos Capelán combines expert craftsmanship with concept, and form with ideas. He makes use of many different techniques from more traditional mediums, like painting and sketching to installations and sculptures made from every day objects like chairs, plates and bottles. Wine, plastic bags, fizzy drinks and clippings from his own fingernails are among the unusual materials that he uses to make his work.

The exhibition can be viewed as a kind of portrait of the self. Capelán allows just a small number of figurative elements to be visible in his work (the head, the face, the torso, the sleeping form, and the heart), which he groups into various different constellations in order to generate new interpretations and associations. The artist's own face, body and handprints are depicted repeatedly in different forms throughout the exhibition.

Self, the individual, the cultural, the social, the political, are all central points of focus in his work. Each work suggests an emotional warmth rather than a critical coldness, enabling the viewer to readily empathise with Capelán's gentle exposure of life. onlyyou is commissioned by BildMuseet, Sweden and is part of the Visual Community Network.

Carlos Capelán was born in Uruguay in 1948, and has lived and worked in Sweden since 1973, with studios in Spain, Lund and Costa Rica. He currently holds the position of professor at the Vestland's Art Academy in Bergen, Norway. Carlos Capelán is an artist who works across many media: he draws, paints, works in graphics, makes installations, photos and sculptures, curates exhibitions and sets up academic performances.

onlyyou opened in November 2002 at BildMuseet, Umeå Univesity, Sweden. In March 2003, the project was presented at Galeria Fúcares in Madrid. Following its presentation at BALTIC from 2 October – 28 November 2004, the exhibition will be presented at a venue in Uruguay. An exhibition catalogue, published by BildMuseet, Sweden, documents and comments upon onlyyou and is available from the BALTIC shop.

An Exhibition talk 'In Conversation: Carlos Capelán and Gavin Jantjes', takes place at BALTIC on Saturday 2 October from 14.00-15.00. Artist, critic and curator Gavin Jantjes discusses onlyyou with Capelán. Jantjes is currently curator for contemporary art at the National Museum of Art in Oslo, Norway.
The talk is FREE, but pre-booking is essential. Please telephone 0191 478 1810 or email events@balticmill.com

For further press information / images / to attend the press preview, (Friday 1 October, 15.00-17.00), please contact Nina Byrne, Media Officer on 0191 440 4915.

BALTIC is a major international centre for contemporary art situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, England. BALTIC presents a constantly changing, dynamic and ambitious programme of complimentary exhibitions and events with a strong emphasis on new commissions. BALTIC has welcomed almost 1.5 million visitors, since opening to the public just over 2 years ago on 13 July 2002.

In the image: Carlos Capelan, La Habana, Cuba (detail), 1994.

Opening hours: Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat 10.00 - 19.00,
Thurs 10.00 - 22.00, Sun 10.00 - 17.00

Last entry is half an hour before closing time.
Reception opening hours: Mon - Sat 09.45 - 18.00

Admission FREE

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
South Shore Road, Gateshead NE8 3BA

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