Creekside Artists at the FringeSeven Dials Club – 2 Aug to 18 Sept – 26 Aug – 11:00 – 21:00
The exhibition consists of 45 pieces by 14 separate artists. The works displayed are in three interconnecting rooms, on the walls surrounding the Seven Dials Club in Soho. Mediums range from oil on canvas, digital illustration and prints, charcoal and ink on paper, and spray paint on canvas among others. Throughout the dates of the exhibition, the Creekside Artists have teamed up with local musicians and poets, and have even featured a life-drawing event during the showings in order to create a multi-faceted artistic experience.
Necole Schmitz’s ‘Madonna of the Sorrows’ is 54 x 74 cm oil on paper. It is an inventive re-imagining of Renaissance paintings portraying the Virgin and infant Christ. In Necole Scmitz’s piece, a haggard and broken woman with sorrowful eyes clutches an expressionless child to her breast. In contrast to the perpetually glowing images of youth and beauty usually seen in this context, ‘Madonna of the Sorrows’ invokes feelings of pain and uncertainty.
Emma Louise Fenton’s ‘Not Again’ and ‘The Morale of the Story’ show brief insights to lives of modern, city-dwelling children. Both pieces have been created using digital illustration and are 156 x 110 cm. In ‘Not Again’, a small boy sits in his bedroom, surrounded by numerous forgotten gadgets, engrossed in a book while his mother scolds him from the doorway. In ‘The Morale of the Story’, the same boy stands amidst the technological clutter, his arms and legs sprouting branches as he morphs into a tree. By the window, an abandoned telescope focuses on the world outside, a bleak and grey urban landscape. They imply an increasing isolation from nature as we simultaneously yearn for it.
Paul Coombs’ ‘Why the Long Mask?’ is 30 x 24cm acrylic on canvas. It shows the dark visage of an unknown man covered in a white mask. The piece is both fascinating and very disturbing. It has the feel of a cold and degenerate sexuality together with mysteriousness, and is deeply unnerving.
Brenda Brown’s ‘Jazz’ is a colour burst of vitality against a dark backdrop. At 40 x 44 inches and in oil on canvas, red and vibrant yellow pop as the texture creates an interesting focal point. There is the impression of motion and sound together with a subtle hint of the curvature of a saxophone.
Victoria Trinder’s ‘By a Hairs Breadth’ and ‘JP’ are round, 120cm diameter creations in oil on board. They are gorgeous, fantasy like glimpses into a brightly vivid dream. Exotic flowers blend with a myriad of colours to create a stunning and wistful experience.
All of the art featured is the work of members of the Creekside Artists, a not-for-profit co-operative based in Deptford, which provides affordable studio space and a unique, creative community for artists working in all disciplines. The Creekside Artists hold Open Studio events three times each year, in June, September, and December.
Artists: Brenda Brown, Paul Coombs, Emma Louise Fenton, Alex Glen, Rachel Hale, Siobhan Keane, Henrietta Loades-Carter, Daryl Mohammed, Sofie Pinkett, Dave Ravenswood, Mat Rochford, Necole Schmitz, Victoria Trinder, Caz Underwood.
Showing at the Seven Dials Club 1 August through 18 September 2010. Written by Megan Hunter for Fringe Report: http://www.fringereport.wordpress.com/. (C) Megan Hunter 2010
