Material Painting
dal 5/5/2003 al 7/6/2003
Segnalato da
5/5/2003
Material Painting
Clapham Art Gallery, London
A three person show featuring new work by Gail Dickerson, Sean Fairman and Duncan Pickstock. The exhibition is an examination of three artists working within a very particular format. The emphasis is on abstract painting arrived at through the use of natural and alternative materials such as earth and ice as well as paint. Each of these three artists creates substantial, large-scale pieces that are resonant and physical and that emphasise the mark-making process that defines this type of work.
CLAPHAM ART GALLERY presents 'MATERIAL PAINTING', a three person show
featuring new work by Gail Dickerson, Sean Fairman and Duncan Pickstock.
'MATERIAL PAINTING' is an examination of three artists working within a
very particular format. The emphasis is on abstract painting arrived at
through the use of natural and alternative materials such as earth and
ice as well as paint. Each of these three artists creates substantial,
large-scale pieces that are resonant and physical and that emphasise the
mark-making process that defines this type of work.
GAIL DICKERSON makes illusive works by melting blocks of ice containing
mechanical objects and found material such as wood or earth onto bare
canvas. Consequently, the surface becomes defined by the meandering of
melting water as it follows its course from solid block to water
channels to eventual evaporation. The melting ice leaves traces of
residue through the rusting and breaking down of the materials contained
within it. We are left with subtle and sensitive canvases that are
marked or imprinted with hues and shapes formed by natural causation,
mimicking the passing of time and changes to matter that is found in
actual geological nature.
SEAN FAIRMAN's pieces are aggressively and heavily worked next to
Dickerson's, displaying a passion and deep understanding of the raw
mark-making process as well as for the materials themselves. Typically
his pieces are monumental works made from natural and industrial
materials such as earth, soil, sand, stone and tar. Underlying their
physical nature, however, is a strong foundation in literature and
learnings, both spiritual and philosophical. Here, for example, we have
part of the 'Terra Nuova Series', works that are informed by and echo
the boundary between abstract and narrative in the Cantos of Dante's
early Stilnovo poems, 'La Vita Nuova'.
Fairman 'subjects' his works to many stages of change, ultimately
transforming base materials into artworks that represent something dark
and primitive that is present throughout humanity and existence. The
direct intervention of the artist is manifest as he equates repeated
'application and removal' with a 'physical and spiritual process of
depiction and destruction'.
DUNCAN PICKSTOCK works closer to the paint tradition despite employing
the use of various alternative materials such as plaster, marble dust
and graphite. There is an element of the geometrical abstract to his
paintings, which is alluded to then broken down with repetitive layering
and working back into the surface. Indeed, Pickstock is focused on the
nature of his surfaces and the manner in which they are defined by the
history of their process, that is, the juxtaposition of exposure and
concealment as layers of application and mark-making build towards their
eventual outcome. The result is always, as with Dickerson and Fairman,
a compositionally balanced and physical yet sensual manifestation.
Image: Dickerson 'Ice & Evaporation' 121x181cm Soil, ice & pigment on canvas 2003
Opening Preview (Serving Mojito): Tuesday 06/05/03 7.00pm - 9.00pm
tue-sat 12pm-8pm
Contact:
Zavier Ellis / Aniko Pall
clapham art gallery
61 venn street
london SW4 0BD
unit 02 40-48 bromell's road
london SW4 0BG
+44 (0)20 7720 0955