TRANSCRIPTIONS 2008

8th August - 30th August 2008

Gallery artists: Nicholas Archer, Ben Ashton, Alicia Dubnyckyj and Jenny Pockley

Invited artists: Emily Allchurch, Paul Hodgson and Ruth Marten

Ever since the approach to picture-making became a self-conscious practice, artists have scrutinised art of the past. This preoccupation has led to a better understanding of pictorial solutions, and shifts in style, subject matter, and the use of materials. ‘Transcriptions’ acknowledges this phenomenon and invites artists to re-examine a particular painting and consider how it informs their own practice.

The art of transcribing may be divided into two distinct archetypes - the exploration of an aesthetic technique centred on the formal compositional qualities of an art work, or conversely to retrace the conceptual journey taken by an artist during the process of making the piece.

Adhering to the first archetype, Pockley responds to the emotive and luminous qualities of Monet’s cityscapes through her own delicately veiled gesso-based oil paintings, while Dubnyckyj deconstructs the traditional compositions of Canaletto through the innovative application of flat gloss paint. Similarly, the experimental use of paint and colour in Archer’s dramatic and vigorous pieces is central to recreating the spirit of his chosen Millais painting.

The second archetype is apparent in the works of Ruth Marten and Emily Allchurch. Marten hijacks images from found 18th century engravings and utilises them to create a surreal and subversive world. Emily Allchurch’s light-boxes replicate Piranesi’s structured imaginary dungeons, which through digital montage subtly merge with modern cityscapes. Staggeringly epic in detail, their beauty disguises the implied question: do our glorious cities imprison our minds?

Ben Ashton and Paul Hodgson explore elements of both archetypes. Ben Ashton is fascinated with artists such as Caravaggio and Titian, interpreting their aesthetic and compositional milestones through installation, performance and stereoscopic processes. The theatrical photographs of Paul Hodgson adhere to strict compositional frameworks borrowed from classic imagery, but the subject matter is painstakingly reinvented through a contemporary guise to create a fascinating dialogue between the past and the present. The act of transcription in this exhibition opens up new and challenging paths of investigation into the process of making and interpreting contemporary art.