exhibition

Just look at yourself!

Madeleine Strindberg

22.Feb.07 - 08.Apr.07
Wed-Sun 12-6 or by appt

Private View, 21.Feb.07, 6:30-8:30 pm
Artist Talk, 18.Mar.07, 3-5pm

Contemporary Art Projects
20 Rivington St
London EC2A 3DU
020 7739 1743
info@caprojects.com
www.caprojects.com
Tube Old Street, Liverpool Street, Shoreditch / Hoxton

The show consists of drawings and paintings which were made during a 3-month period last summer when Strindberg was threatened with losing the lease of her long-term studio. The work is underpinned by a hidden storyline, formed by the events that led up to the eviction order. The protagonists are cartoon characters, while the setting is melodramatic with expressionistic undertones.

The three larger paintings are all reworks of older, previously discarded, canvases. New structures, as well as new storylines, have been superimposed onto those, which previously existed. Perhaps this use of hitherto abandoned structures can be seen as referring to the abject. Certainly the frequent use of contradictory stylistic devices means that the paintings elude straightforward readings.

This idiosyncratic mix of styles testifies to the current vitality of painting and shows its ability to re-engage with an emotional charge. These paintings are provocative in the best sense, packed with an energy which is both visceral and irreverent. It is however the quality of deadpan humour cutting through the blackest moments, which make this work stick in the mind.

The paintings are accompanied by a new series of work on paper and gloss paint in the gallery upstairs. A catalogue has been produced to accompany the exhibition.

Publications Madeleine Strindberg - just look at yourself!, 2006

News / reviews Bambi meets Edvard Munch, commentart.com, 04.Jul.07

 

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