Tucked away behind blue barn doors, off Broadway Market, a free 4-day exhibition was held in London, showcasing breakthrough talent in the illustration, photography and fashion disciplines. On a chilly Saturday, I arrived to sample some of the talent for myself!
Once inside I could see pasted on every wall various pieces of work, like an installation in the left-hand corner, of an old television set that replayed a video clip of a family sitting on a couch staring at the TV set (and the viewer) whilst a young girl read a by no means exhaustive list of TV programmes and effectively pop culture. To the right sat atop of a table, lay an early iMac connected up to a projector, for the purpose to show animations on the white bed sheet opposite, but unfortunately the keyboard to the computer was mislaid and so unable to log into the computer. Left of the bed sheet, were pieces of paper showing the roster of each artist and an accompanying thumbnail of their respective showreel.
A piece that first caught my eye was a series of drawings depicting a group of deer done by an artist called Holly Dowsett but what made it aesthetically pleasing was that the distinctive silhouette was woven with intricately drawn lines that resembled floral imagery, that lent well with the natural fauna already present.
Just by the window sat a series of 5 pieces, each showing in fine and loose brushwork, the different steps involved in tying a bow tie. It’s interesting to notice how in the early stages that the bow tie is not obvious to tell at first and almost resembles the outline of two small fish but as the viewers’ eye drifts to the final piece it then becomes clear what the subject is.
Left of the deer series, was a set of small watercolour paintings by Susan Paisley, these paintings were displayed in elaborate gold frames that one would associate with classic paintings but instead of anticipating a portrait or landscape fixed in the impressionistic mode, instead the viewer is treated to snapshots of a children’s fairytale as it unfolds.
Immediately when I saw Jessica Lapping’s work, I thought of cobwebs, as that’s what the strategically ripped fabrics resembled. Not only was this true of the black fabrics, but they almost took on a viscous quality like that of a newly inked fountain pen touching clear water in a pot.
What I liked about Louise Walsh’s flower portraits was how much they held the illusion of resembling wallflowers (especially on the last one, which was placed near the bottom of the wall, where the brick was more revealed then that of the upper portions of the wall which were mainly just painted white).
In the centre of wall as you enter the space, Hayley Watson’s piece dominates the wall, it consists of 12 sheets work, organized in 3 columns and 4 rows, each resembling a charcoal design but upon closer inspection is not a charcoal piece or even in that medium but the remnants of an X-Ray, distorted beyond recognition.
To the left, Anna Mould’s illustrations provide stylized drawings of birds, flowers and a nude subject, that evokes the realm of the fantastic like that of outsider artist Henry Darger.
Underneath, Nathalie Sexton’s delicately grey and ghostly prints sit on top of a disused radiator. Barely visible from afar, it forces the viewer to observe the pieces a little bit closer. Once up close, it is still a mystery what is actually depicted but the way the vivid white lines branch out naturally reminds me of subatomic detail taken from a bubble chamber, but to another observer may resemble something else, just like how an inkblot test works.
To the far left, a group of experimental typography pieces are arranged side by side, some of the fonts overlap each other diagonally and on of the other pieces the fonts overlap each other vertically and horizontally, creating a mess of characters that renders the message unreadable to the effect of a printer being fed the same piece of paper and the characters constantly printing over the same area.
In Chris Pollard’s piece, he uses a collage of photographs and interestingly glass but on each sheet of glass, fine lines are etched upon the surface, which it is to be assumed a similar technique to that of chemicals applied to the surface of a copperplate, just like in the preparation of an etching, may have been used. In one of these pieces the glass etching resembles a portrait of a person in the side profile, made up of a collection of Polaroid cameras.
On the left wall, a collection of 4 pictures, the subject is that of a fashion shoot in the style of an 80’s collage. Parts of the pictures are made up of jagged triangles, but instead of showing the familiar model’s face for each picture the head has been removed and replaced with a triangle to only reveal a body, as if to morph the original subject into an inanimate mannequin.
In Anam Jameel Uddin’s work, the skin of the human body has been adopted into a canvas, as this series of 3 photographs depicts the traditional temporary skin decoration mehndi, which would normally be used as part of nuptials, but is instead used in more inventive ways, such as with the first photograph which seems to look like a lake carrying leaves down the stream. In the second photo, the artist has created an intricate maze of lines like that of a fingerprint and finally in the last photograph a tightly gripped pair of hands are covered in a tessellating diamond pattern, much like that of a fishnet and camouflaging the single digits into a single block of pattern.
To the right of the skin art, Isabelle Held’s work creates a gradient mosaic composed of single brush strokes, which resembles the kind of tile patterns present at the bottom of a swimming pool. The artist not only explores pixel-like patterns but also explores lines with light and dark elements, in an abstract approach.
An 80’s aesthetic is adopted within Trudie McKenzie’s pieces, which show parts of the subject modelling various garments of that decade, with portions of the picture highlighted in fluorescent colours to emphasize the garments from the female model wearing them. Also on some of the pieces, the features of the models face are drawn by the artist and used as part of a collage with photography.
The next pieces by Celia Niven, each consists of 12 detailed technical drawings laid out 3 rows of 4, each drawing showing a step of a process, such as the first piece showing what looks like the rotation of a scrunched up ball of putty, whilst the next piece shows a chunk of wood being carved into shape.
In the next series of drawings by Kirsten McNee, there are 10 pieces each showing a different female subject focusing on an area of the subject, such as in one piece that shows the subject from the shoulder down with only the subject’s long hair visible as she holds what looks like the head of a bear rug. In another piece, half of the face is shown, the female subject wears a pair of 80s horizontal visor sunglasses, partially covered by the girl’s fringe and to her lips a cigarette, that stays aligned with the length of the frame.
To the left, hangs a set of 3 black & white photographs, each showing a building and interestingly no people. The black & white aspect of the photograph really gives the photographs the added dimension of age, making each of the photographs appear older then they are and evoking history.
Slap bang in the middle of the space, is Parisa Walklett’s piece which definitely dominates the space physically, it makes use of woven strips of paper that not only combine to create a larger length of cloth, but each of the strips are woven in different ways which catches and plays with the light in a unique way, to create a checkerboard effect on the surface.
Just above the door as you walk in, to the wall on the right, hangs a collection of 12 pieces by James Buswell, each provides a bird’s eye view of the city, with thick strokes painted on top of the view which look like leaves through a passenger window. As the viewer gazes into the work, immediately a sense of vertigo ensues as the observer too hovers vicariously through the air.
On the adjoining wall is a set of 2 landscape photographs, the first is a heavily distorted and blurred figure, the red colour of the subject’s coat is most visible of the blurry figure reminiscent to that of a jockey (sans the horse) who is seen running on the vivid green grass. The second photograph depicts the hustle and bustle of a busy city with the paths of light frozen through time-lapse.
Nearby is a collection of portraits, with people important to the artist, friends and family. In each of the photographs, the person looks out of the photo and directly at the observer, in the same way they must do in the presence of the artist whom these people have a special relationship.
In a set of 3 square photographs Kat Wood captures an exotic scene of sleek feathers, with such rich colours that appears so vividly upon the deep black background. The colours of the subject blend and blur, creating a sense of motion within the still photograph.
Overall, it was exciting to see the variety of different ideas and techniques explored throughout the exhibition, the only bad thing I could say about the exhibition was that there could have been a stronger heater in the room, as it was bitterly cold, but still it was such an enjoyable day!