Jessica Rankin
dal 18/4/2007 al 18/5/2007
Segnalato da
18/4/2007
Jessica Rankin
White Cube, London
Solo exhibition. Appropriating methods traditionally identified with feminine pursuits - embroidery and needlework - Rankin's work features a series of 'mental maps', with codes, signs and symbols that explore ideas of memory, intuition and interpretation. The artist's embroidered paintings begin with coloured panels of organdy, a fabric known for its sheer, diaphanous quality.
Solo show
White Cube Hoxton Square is pleased to present the work of Jessica Rankin in her
first solo exhibition in the UK. Appropriating methods traditionally identified with
feminine pursuits - embroidery and needlework - Rankin's work features a series of
'mental maps', with codes, signs and symbols that explore ideas of memory, intuition
and interpretation.
Rankin's embroidered paintings begin with coloured panels of organdy, a fabric known
for its sheer, diaphanous quality. Into this material the artist stitches renderings
of mountain terrains, thermodynamic charts and astronomical maps, all of which
mutate into lines of text before collapsing back into landscape drawing. The text
assumes an abstract quality, executed in capital letters that call to mind the
embroidered works of Alighiero Boetti.
An interest in Surrealist and concrete poetry is evident in the work, with the
arrangement of words as objects and rhythmic lines that form an integral part of the
imagery.
Rankin's compositions are influenced on one level by personal experience - a road
trip, camping under the night sky or snippets of conversation - and on a more
universal level, by cartographic, cosmological or genetic diagrams, amongst others.
Commencing with what she terms 'a decisive act' - a particular phrase or image -
these elements develop organically, winding through the work like a street or river.
Positioned several inches from the wall, the translucence of the organdy enables the
forms to reverberate, casting faint shadows on the surface behind. As a whole,
Rankin sees the structure of the work as an 'embodiment of thought'.
The exhibition includes a selection of drawings and watercolours that provide
insight into Rankin's working process. Sketches of biomorphic forms feature
alongside abstract representations of astral or lunar cycles, while other studies
depict recognisable scenery. Together with the organdy paintings, these works serve
as a kind of visual diary, combining direct experience with abstract thoughts.
Jessica Rankin was born in 1971 in Sydney, Australia and lives and works in New
York. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions in the US, Europe and
Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include PS1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York
(2006) and Franklin Artworks, Minneapolis (2005).
A fully illustrated catalogue, with a text by Sarah Kent, will accompany the
exhibition.
Preview Thursday 19 April 2007, 6-8pm
White Cube
Hoxton Square - London