Saturday 23 August 2014

Pareidolia


Balance I, 2013, 22 x 16 cm, acrylic on card


Public Opening times
23nd August - 14th September / Saturday & Sunday - 10.00 - 14.00

Ralph Anderson, Louisa Chambers, Frances Disley, Jack Foster, Rachael MacArthur, Ellie MacGarry, David Manley, Phoebe Mitchell, Andy Parkinson

Religious figures faces in toast, houses that resemble dictators of the past, clouds that bear the shape of rabbits and other animals. Why do we have a developed tendency to see things that are not really there? Carl Sagan in ‘The Demon-Haunted World’ states:

“as soon as the infant can see it recognizes faces, and we now know that this skill is hardwired in our brains. Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents. And less likely to prosper.”

Our brains are biologically trained and motivated to recognise patterns. Pareidolia is where there is an illusion or misconception of perceiving something as significant where there really is nothing.
With artwork each viewer brings their own personal understanding of the world, and as a result their reading of the artwork is often different to that of the artist that had created it.

This is a collection of artworks from nine different artists who all have very different sensibilities when creating work. Many of the artist have an interest in visual perception and this is an attempt to see how they sit together. Phoebe Mitchell who is one of the artists featured in this exhibition has in the past created a series of exhibitions that has been based around Apophenia. Apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data, Pareidolia is a kind of Apophenia.

This exhibition has been curated by artist Matthew Macaulay. For more information on the exhibition please contact matthew@pluspace.com

Address
50 Bishop St, Coventry CV1 1HW, UK

www.pluspace.com

 

Friday 22 August 2014

Harlequin II

In July, I was commissioned by Winsor and Newton to undertake a painting profiling their Water Colour Revolution campaign. The final work, Harlequin II was showcased in an exhibition at The Saatchi Gallery in London.
See the Winsor and Newton video here and find out how I apply watercolour as a medium in my practice.

Below are images of Harlequin II including details and the work in process.


Harlequin II, 2014, 200 x 150 cm, watercolour on paper


Harlequin II, 2014, watercolour on paper (detail)


Harlequin II, 2014, watercolour on paper (detail)


Harlequin II, watercolour on paper (in process)

Monday 4 August 2014

Kite II

Below are installation photographs taken of Kite II at the Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham. The painting was created as an opportunity to test out a wall painting in a white cube space during The Summer Lodge at Nottingham Trent University in July 2014. The configuration was taken from a smaller painting Kite I and this work is featured in an earlier series entitled Nets.  


"For ten days each July, the Fine Art studios and workshops at Nottingham Trent University are transformed into The Summer Lodge and play host to a gathering of thirty diverse artists. It is intended as an opportunity to think through making by being able to work for a while without many of the usual constraints and distractions. It is a collective space in which to undertake experiments, pursue new ideas and allow unexpected leaps of imagination."

For more information about The Summer Lodge, please visit the website here http://www.summerlodge.org/



Kite II, 2014, 165 x 185 cm, acrylic paint


Kite II, 2014, acrylic paint (detail)


Installation view of Kite I (left) and Kite II


Kite I, 2014, gouache on paper, 25 x 19 cm