SUMMER OF SIX
Paintings by
SUSAN AGGARWAL, REBECCA DAVY, DEBORAH GOLDSMITH,
OLGA MUN, GEORGIA NOBLE & HANNAH WOOLL
Lowry Hotel, 50 Dearmans Place, Salford, Manchester, M3 5LH
Exhibition Dates: 25.07.24 - 03.09.24
The Summer of Six exhibition at the Lowry Hotel brings together six of the most talented female artists who all excel at their art practice of painting. Their works include abstract landscapes, figurative art and photorealist painting, with each artist having an incredible eye with their use of colour with their chosen palette creates the most sublime works.
SUSAN AGGARWAL
‘I try to capture the joy, emotion, dance, and movement of floral, coastal, and landscapes. Working in acrylic paint I enjoy the freedom and looseness of a palette knife. Nature flows and moves and does its own thing. Nature feeds us with a sense of freedom, it offers such healing qualities and it is that which I try to bring to the canvas.’ And so the many who view my work and live with it in their homes may enjoy and be touched with such beauty." Susan Aggarwal
REBECCA DAVY
Rebecca Davy’s primary concern when creating her artworks is the act of painting itself. Her focus is on what she describes as “the seductiveness and sensuousness of pushing paint on canvas”. She is particularly attracted to painting the colourful, the ephemeral and the kitsch, constructing paintings with a strong element of light and colour that satisfies both the subject and its medium.
For her, sticky and colourful things such as sweets and icing are good subjects for the visceral qualities of paint. Bringing these two elements together produces a new realm between kitsch and the hyper real, paintings that flow into being from the artist’s imagination.
DEBORAH GOLDSMITH
Making the paintings is a physical act and this is evident in their scale and size and the use of bold, sweeping brushstrokes that create an energetic sense of movement and flow. Working in oils she employs big brushes to create drips and splashes that develop into layers of drawing and gesture on the surface. As a final act to complete the works she uses oil bars to bring the pieces together by drawing direct linear marks onto the surface of the canvas, the layers provide an opportunity to almost look through another reference to how one might glimpse elements in a landscape and another way of inviting the viewer to look in and engage with the painting. Goldsmith’s colour palette has been described as ‘joyful’ and ‘optimistic’ something she also hints at with her use of titles, there is always a sunny outlook or a possibility of change, this vibrant and expressive use of colour sometimes suggests a change in weather which captures the essence of the landscape.
OLGA MUN
"My painting practice explores the vastness of the human condition, often this story and the intention of work is a consistent essence on one canvas. I convey my thoughts about humanity with such a depth that it causes an internal study of life, the environment, history and human activity and interaction. The work isn’t purely figurative, it plays with abstraction. It uses elements like almost abstract figures, transformative forms, gestural strokes, and infinite colour blending for each shape represented." Olga Mun
GEORGIA NOBLE
"For several years my practice has involved the predominant use of oil paint, transcending the conventions of traditional landscape painting to invite the viewer into a constructed fictional space that encourages them to interact with the composition in a way that is unique to them. These spaces were created through explorations and methods of abstraction to lead to a sense of ‘somewhere other’. This sense of ‘otherness’ is conveyed through a bold and colourful palette, as well as varying techniques of careful blending, expressive mark making and deliberate scraping back into layers of paint underneath to create a narrative that allows for fluidity between the foreground and background.
Often there is an omission of clear structure or a definite horizon line, given the abstract origins of each piece. However, as I progress further into a painting, I use suggestive and expressive marks in a more thoughtful and conscious way to allude to aspects of the natural environment. These familiarities found within the paintings provide the viewer with a sense of stability and recognition with the world they are accustomed to, while the more abstract formations deliver a sense of escapism, resulting in my work being caught somewhere playfully between the two.
HANNAH WOOLL
Hannah Wooll explores domestic space, interior life and the value associated with related objects and imagery. Her most recent practice is inspired by junk-shop sourced found media; starkly-lit, contrived photographs lifted from the pages of outmoded hobbyist manuals, ceramic figurines, family photographs, and internet sourced images.
Wooll incorporates elements of these eclectic images into her paintings, collaging them together. She plays with scale and tests notions of familiarity, splicing and assembling, both referencing and deconstructing the original imagery. The effect is often off-kilter, maximising the potential of contrived images freed from their intended context. Visual research of ceramic busts and figurines (as well as a related sculptural practice), has led to the repeated use of figures which exist within the duality of subject and object, portrait and still life, something which fascinates Wooll.
The use of specific colours and pattern is important, derived from these reference books from the 1950's -80s, and nod towards perceived notions of femininity and the domestic space. The inky layers of paint seep into the painting boards, staining the surface, linking to the printed page and small scale watercolours. Wooll’s women and girls appear awkward yet untroubled by their unnatural surroundings, acknowledging the style and era of the books with which she works, as well as the individual women that have pored over these home craft manuals, filled with arguably outdated feminine pursuits and domestic recreation. The dreamlike and static qualities of the work are due to Hannah taking advantage of the duplicity of unnatural lighting, allowing a two-dimensional feel, lending a lack of naturalism. We swiftly become caught up in these quietly absurd moments, the image paused; melodramatic fragments of still and uneasy tension.
The exhibition is open daily from 10:00 - 22:00 and is on the first floor of the Lowry Hotel.
PLEASE CONTACT COMME CA ART DEALERS FOR ANY ENQUIRIES.
CLAIRE TURNER | claire@commecaart.com | T: +44 (0) 161 273 5495
CCA GALLERY 5TH FLOOR | HOPE MILL | POLLARD STREET | ANCOATS | MANCHESTER | M4 7JA