Emily Allchurch
dal 30/11/2004 al 29/1/2005
Segnalato da
30/11/2004
Emily Allchurch
The Blue Gallery, London
For this current body of work, the artist has selected a number of paintings by European masters that will be familiar to many, work by artists as Giorgione, Claude, Friedrich and Turner. She then carefully reconstructs them in a contemporary idiom, but each now entirely composed of often hundreds of photographs taken around south and east London. Allchurch has completed 10 large format images which constitute the exhibition.
Recent work
The Directors of the Blue Gallery are proud to announce the first solo
exhibition in London of the work of Emily Allchurch. The first works from
the Settings series were unveiled at Photo-London and elicited great
excitement from critics and public alike. Allchurch has now completed 10
large format images which will constitute the exhibition.
For this current body of work, Allchurch has selected a number of paintings
by European masters that will be familiar to many, work by artists as
diverse as Giorgione, Claude, Friedrich and Turner. She then carefully
reconstructs them in a contemporary idiom, but each now entirely composed of
often hundreds of photographs taken around south and east London. For
example, Setting II (after Canaletto) exchanges the buildings along the
Grand Canal in 18th century Venice with others tracked down in Mile End,
Shoreditch and Limehouse. Similarly, locations across Crystal Palace, West
Norwood, Brixton and Peckham were sourced for Tempest (after Giorgione) and
Outlook (after Claude). These images are digitally spliced to create a
seamless collage and presented as large backlit transparencies, accentuating
the dramatic allusion of the pieces. In these contemporary versions, the
original protagonists have been removed, shifting the focus to the
background setting. They are now suggestive of theatrical backdrops or film
sets, anticipating an event or perhaps recording its aftermath. What
remains, however, are the residual traces of a narrative; graffiti,
discarded beer cans, rubbish left after a summer picnic, road works, for
sale signs etc.
The streetscapes of east and southeast London where I live are the subject
of my work. I am fascinated by the hybrid of architectural styles and
influence in these areas of deprivation and urban regeneration. Far from the
tourist trail can be found Georgian and Victorian houses with their
classical proportions and decorative motifs in varying levels of decay,
fighting for attention alongside shiny new examples of contemporary urban
design. The aim of my work is to breathe new life and energy into the
forgotten and overlooked in these areas by uprooting specific buildings and
street furniture from their everyday surroundings and creating a new setting
for them to exist in, more worthy of their classical aspirations. By
elevating their status in this way they are offered a new life of artificial
romanticism, which realises both a connection and a sense of dislocation
between a classical ideal and the deprived landscapes of London.
In the gallery's Project Space, there will be a concurrent exhibition by
Dutch artist Wido Blokland, entitled Scintilla animae.
The gallery is open
Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 11am - 3pm
Tube: Farringdon, Barbican
Image:Emily Allchurch, An Altered View (No. 3)
Transparency On Light Box (90 x 71.2 x 12 cms) 2001
The Blue Gallery
15 Great Sutton Street London