23/1/2006
Rose Wylie
Union, London
Paintings. The artist's paintings are inspired by the world that surrounds her, anything seen or remembered which remains vividly in her mind. This includes trees, birds, gift flowers, newspaper illustrations, Yellow Pages, TV, computer games and the cheap toy market. She writes on the paintings as much for pattern as meaning.
Paintings
Union is pleased to announce Rose Wylie's solo exhibition of recent and new
works.
Her paintings are inspired by the world that surrounds her, anything seen or
remembered which remains vividly in her mind. This includes trees, birds, gift
flowers, newspaper illustrations, Yellow Pages, TV, computer games and the
cheap toy market. She writes on the paintings as much for pattern as meaning.
The first impression when facing Wylie's paintings is that of naivety. The raw
brushstrokes bring a sense of immediacy, spontaneity and anarchy. Friendly
cartoon-like figures seem to carry the simplicity and innocence of children¹s
art and her technique suggests an unmediated creative process devoid of
intellectual or conceptual elements. Upon closer inspection the depth of
imagery with its different styles and textures makes the experience
increasingly complex both materially and stylistically.
Rose Wylie's paintings are related closely to her drawings. These drawings are
made in hard pencil, ink, coloured pencils and biro and are often cut and
built up with glued corrections, becoming thick when finished. In the
paintings the sticking of edges to the canvases, necessary for the attachment
to a stretcher, continues the cut-and-stick process used in the drawings: they
both share the same object quality.
In Wylie's own words she describes her work as being ³free from imposed
drawing conventions, known solutions and from an accepted artistic look.² The
figures superpose each other, giving the impression that they float on
different surface levels on the canvas as if they belong to a dream world.
Painted with oil sometimes as thin as watercolour, the thickness of the paint
varies from one area of the painting to the other, adding depth to the work.
Made on large canvases, the paintings are imposing, with their life-size or
oversized characters that populate the gallery space.
A visual voyage through Wylie's maze of narrative possibilities and images
arising out of the subconscious can become an experience, leaving one feeling
breathless but fresh and ready for more.
Rose Wylie lives and works in Kent.
Recent exhibitions include Reverse Engineering, Pearl, London; Room Project,
Twink & Ivy,
Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells and EAST International, Norwich Gallery,
Norwich.
Opening: January 24
Union
57 Ewer Street - London
Hours: Monday-Friday, 10.00 am-6.00 pm; Saturday, 12.00 pm-5.00 pm