The Sea

Dolly Thompsett

04.Apr.07 - 13.May.07
Thu-Sun 12-6

Private View, 04.Apr.07, 6.30-8.30pm

Fred
45 Vyner St
London E2 9DQ
020 8981 2987
info@fred-london.com
www.fred-london.com
Tube Bethnal Green; BR Cambridge Heath, Hackney / Bethnal Green

FRED is pleased to announce our representation of Dolly Thompsett and her first solo show featuring a stunning new series of fifteen paintings based on a maritime theme. The exhibition is accompanied by the publication of a full colour catalogue with an essay by Martin Herbert. Thompsett trained at the Byam Shaw School of Art (2000-2001), and Goldsmiths College (2002-2006).

Thompsett is interested in the creation of narratives that are a mixture of fact and the imagination; a combination of reality and fantasy as epitomised by our cinematic age. In previous paintings from the period 2003-2005 Thompsett constructed evocative, fantastical vistas based on documentary images of real people and the events that overcame them. In her paintings of colonial palaces, of a soldier's exploration of exotic forests, of mining in distant lands, for example, she transformed photographic material into epic paintings using a 'cinematic' language that borrowed from a variety of sources. She made images of actual events that were as spectacular as TV images and as atmospheric as an entire movie sequence condensed into a single image. Nick de Ville has written of these paintings,

'She seeks her material from a wide range of sources including topographical photography which she transforms into detailed epic vistas of human activity which at one level can be seen as alluding to the work of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Breughel. They also evoke the high spiritual seriousness of the romantic sublime, but the techniques by which she realises the images - layers of gestural brushstrokes, detailed drawings and trashy bits of decorative glitter all embedded in layers of poured resin - undercut the painting's jumble of high art credentials, bringing them closer to the kind of spectacular popular imagery which ultimately have been derived from such paintings, such as the set pieces of epic cinema. The sheer density of concerns she manages to keep in play in her work is remarkable. She is making an important contribution to the re-evaluation of subject matter and technique in contemporary painting....'

The new series of paintings based on seafaring allows Thompsett to further explore and examine her themes. For artists and filmmakers the sea has always operated as a canvas upon which fantasies are played out. In Thompsett's pictures we see magnificent ships traversing the high seas, vessels shored on beaches, dramatic shipwrecks and underwater sea life. This series refers back to a time when the sea was the life-blood of many nations, and especially of Britain who, as a small island, forged its identity on its prowess at sea. As well as a series of early photographs of the subject, the series also references nineteenth century British and sixteenth century Dutch maritime painting, both in terms of subject matter and mood. It also borrows from movies, including the recent Pirates of the Caribbean productions. With these borrowings and others Thompsett establishes a continuity, which enables the viewer to link the historical past to the present.

Thompsett utilizes a unique method in which she builds the composition by creating separated layers within in the paint surface. Between transparent laminates different elements of the painting reside. Often light-catching materials are added such as glitter, sequins and glass gems. At the end of this process the works are covered in resin, giving them their shiny screen-like surface. This painting technique gives each composition a particular sense of space within the canvas and is especially successful in describing the depth of life at sea, the fish that gleam through the water under ships, the glisten of light on the crest of waves and the sun breaking through grey skies.

'But the greatest love of my life is probably the Pearl.
She is more than a ship to me. She represents freedom and independence - things I love most - no man (or woman) to command me, and no boundaries...'
Captain Jack Sparrow, The Pirates of the Caribbean (2006).