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'D.A.V.E - An exhibition of contemporary art' - 5th-13th February
Sat 5 Feb -Sun 13 Feb at 21/22 Milsom Place. Open daily from 10am to 4pm (11am-4pm on Sundays)
This exhibition aims to show how variable and unpredictable art practices can be, and how different working methods and ways of responding to one’s environment can have their own unique and exciting results. Notes on the artists exhibiting:
Darragh Boyd is an artist and writer whose text pieces and utopian abstract painted forms reveal a desire for a universal unifying order, the works displaying disembodied expressions meant to instil in the viewer the idea of a greater potential of society, not accepting the death of the age of honest indignation. His work uses literary devices and turns, changing tone from piece to piece - from cynical to revolutionary, poetic and political, and at times even questioning the function of art itself - but always trying to rise above the rabble.
Louise Grant’s work explores process paintings by using paint that potentially should not be used together and using material, mainly sand bag type materials to distort the canvas. The movement of the material presents a process within itself through stretching it over the canvas. There is a sense of isolation within Grant’s work that surrounds the drying time - which often engulfs the paintings. The isolation is extended when the idea of displaying the work comes into play. The work is displayed using at times a single canvas or multiple canvasses to show as many or as few paintings together as desired. When hanging the work, Grant gives the curator the authority to decide which position the work would be placed within the series.
Adam Hughes’ work attempts to explore that fragile tension between peace and violence. It deals with the land that we inhabit and the land which we as a species have fought over for generations. His paintings look at the aftermath of these conflicts, the scars that are left behind and the destruction that is brought to people’s homes. Using representational painting and thick visceral brush marks to convey the emotion of the situation, he hopes to offer a glimpse into situations that we in the Western world are very sheltered from.
Amreen Khan’s work investigates the concept of cultures, in particular her struggle between two societies; her Pakistani origin and that of the Western society which she lives in. The paintings explore the contrast of cultures and uses bright colours which originate from traditional Asian clothing. Mehndi (an Urdu meaning for ‘henna’) designs are applied to the paintings using western tools, such as biro and gel pens, integrating the two cultures.
Michala Pike’s work focuses on the tactile and the touchable. She uses materials such as wax, clay, wood, and plaster to enhance the tactile qualities. She wants people to be able to connect to her pieces by sight and by touch, as to her these are really important senses. Because of her bad eyesight, she has connected to objects by touch, and feels she can understand the pieces she so much better by touch rather than if she had just looked at them. For Pike, there is nothing worse than being told she cannot touch an artwork or to even stand near it - it totally ruins the experience. So her work tries to encourage people to engage with the work the way she would.
