Friday, September 20, 2013

Curiosity: an art practice as a way of looking


Curiosity: an art practice as a way of looking
Julie Caves’ first major solo exhibition has taken over two years to create, with work celebrating beauty and its many juxtapositions: work and play, nature and synthesis, life and death.




Housed in the peaceful and contemplative 19th-century Crypt Gallery in Kings Cross, this group of work includes eight series of paintings, sculptural installations, an ongoing drawing series, an interactive work, and installations created specifically for the Crypt space.  The exhibition is located a 5-minutes walk from the Frieze Art Fair and is also part of the Bloomsbury Festival 15–20 October. There will be a participatory artwork called A Third Colour on the three Saturdays of the exhibition, whose participants will be documented for a book and receive a certificate that ‘they are art’ as well as artist-led tours. Special guest artist H Locke will have a large drawing installation.

Julie Caves’ work celebrates beauty and its many juxtapositions: work and play, nature and synthesis, life and death, macro and micro, Heaven and Hell. She is constantly walking the tightrope between two ideas. This is most notably seen in her large window paintings, where she has created a series of works of views through windows, either panes in view so the window is quite apparent, and in other compositions no pane is shown so the work resembles and references traditional landscape painting.  Reminiscent of Gary Hume’s enamel Door Paintings from the mid-90s, instead of confronting us with a barrier to a world beyond, Caves’ windows invite us to explore that same world, and realise it really is quite beautiful.

Other concerns within Caves’ practice intrinsically revolve around colour. Each of her large scale abstract paintings (for which she is best known) are a record of a process carried out by the artist; set rules and decisions are established to start a painting (much like the invention of a new game), and devised as a means of creating pathways into explorations of colour and texture.


Julie Caves says: “I am very interested in the push-pull of visual space and the polarities of ideas - object and ground, positive and negative, good and evil. I have always looked at both sides of the coin, seen the hare and the duck. I am very interested in the structure of the painting and my own kind of balance. Often my method of closing-up, searching for rightness and negotiating each mark results in a complexity nearly hidden in the final simplification, a subtle activation. Sometimes it is a feeling of righting a wrong, one decision at a time, heading down a path to more correctness.”

Sunday, September 15, 2013

The reasons people have a painting on their wall

The reasons people have a painting on their wall:
1. They love it and love to look at it for long periods. 
2. They think it looks good in their room, makes the room look better. In extreme cases it may cover up wall imperfections.
3. It is a way to express their own taste. They wish to say something about themselves.
4. They like the subject matter. 
5. They know the artist, often a relative. 
6. It is a financial investment, they are hoping it will increase in value.
7. Artists may buy work of other artists whose technique they admire or to show solidarity with other artists.
8. Collectors may derive a personal satisfaction from discovering an artist and other psychological factors about collecting may come into play.

The reason may be a combination of these.

After getting some input over on my Facebook page I have made some adjustments.
Does this look like a good definitive list?

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Behind Closed Doors exhibition

Behind Closed Doors is a group exhibition that brings together some of London’s most talented visual artists.  All artists are based at the Blackhorse Lane Studios in Walthamstow, E17. 
This is a rare opportunity to see an exhibition that brings together all the studio artists in one show.
11 – 13 October 2013 12-6pm
Private view: 11 October, 6-9pm





Artists:
Franki Austin
Julie Caves
Elizabeth de Monchaux
Francesco de Manincor
Duncan Evans
Pauline Evans
Charlotte Gerard
Jonet Harley-Peters
Denise Hickey
Charlotte Hodes
Neil Irons
Tam Joseph
Matthew Krishanu
Valerie Large
Jean Pierre Mas
Helen Maurer
Katrin Mäurich
Lucile Montague
Jonathan O'Dea
Michelle Reader
Daniels Rizzi
William Stok
Sandie Sutton
Barry Sykes

Monday, September 09, 2013

Plaster sculptures update

I have been building up more layers on the 40cm forms.
There are 10 forms in the set for a sculptural installation.
It will be one of the works in the Curiosity exhibition, installed in the Crypt Gallery.


This is where they are built up to as of today.




Friday, September 06, 2013

Art is everywhere in E17

My studio is in Walthamstow, East London.
I am also involved in art in the area.
This lovely article by Nick Cheshire of London Trends, 
Art is everywhere in E17
includes many things I am involved with.

You should go read it.

Sunday, September 01, 2013

Article in the E-List

I have a mention and a painting in this article in The E-List
- a review of Behind Closed Doors on page 3
an exhibition on 1 – 13 October, 2013

Behind Closed Doors exhibition