Curious Nature
Collyer Bristow Gallery, London
7th February - 9th April 2008
Collyer Bristow Gallery, Collyer Bristow LLP, 4 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4DF
An exhibition of drawings, paintings, photographs and sculpture by artists discovering the unexpected in landscape and nature.
Work by Leonora Chan, Helena Goldwater, Andy Harper,
Nadège Mériau, Melanie Stidolph and John Timberlake
Curated by Day+Gluckman
Installation shot: 'The Green Man', 2007
The darker side of nature is explored by each of the artists in these selected works. Helena Goldwater creates her own botanical studies, exquisitely rendered in watercolour paint. Each depicted sample is familiar yet altered, hinting at some kind of strange science. Whilst referencing 18th and 19th Century studies these images are extremely contemporary, suggestive of our ability to radically alter the nature of our environment. Nadège Mériau has taken a similar viewpoint, in certain cases isolating individual plants and their plant system, in others exposing the surreal nature of plants simply though the direction of her lens. Throughout her work Mériau pushes context and composition to reveal new understandings.
Both Leonora Chan and Melanie Stidolph use photography to give us a new angle on the familiar landscape. Chan’s landscapes are highlighted with an eerie, effervescent light that makes an ordinary hedgerow or shoreline appear magically staged. In fact these are all lit ‘naturally’ by light pollution. This unsettling fact brings in to question the human and urban impact on nature. Where Chan uses long exposures to capture the artificial light Melanie Stidolph shoots off reels of film to capture that moment when life itself seems a little off key. A large photograph of a hillside will suddenly reveal a hare sitting, just off centre. The viewer comes across the unexpected detail and invariably discovers more on each viewing.
Andy Harper constructs similarly complex visual fodder through paint. He uses the paint to physically build the dense foliage. Through an exact and repetitive technique he builds up leaves, fruits and twigs into a disturbing image of barely controlled wilderness. John Timberlake paints similarly disturbing scenes that illuminate narratives within landscapes. Timberlake draws and paints over photographs creating layered landscapes. In Giardini Allagati a photographed dilapidated building is contrasted with a sky reminiscent of 19th Century masters where the omnipotent presence of nature dominated the subject matter. In this particular work the patina of the walls and texture grit in the road are reflected in the pencil work of the tumultuous clouds, the contemporary and ancient striving for dominance.
Curious Nature presents artists who look at the natural world from a unique perspective. Through shared ambitions they present the beautiful and the bizarre in diverse media.
For general enquiries and sales please call the gallery administrator on +44(0)20 7242 7215
To enquire about artists in the exhibition or the gallery programme please contact curators Day+Gluckman by emailing mail@dayandgluckman.co.uk
Collyer Bristow Gallery is a bespoke gallery space with a dynamic exhibition programme. Collyer Bristow LLP have championed new talent in contemporary art for the past fifteen years. The firm provides business and personal legal advice to a wide range of clients.