48 Sheet

The billboards have been speaking to me again.  Their messages leaping out of the paper and infecting my brain with subliminal commands, you feel empty, you need me, this will fill that hole, desire, obey, consume...

But sometimes forces of resistance manage to break through these portals instead.  Taking the form and twisting it, questioning the nature of these message boards to the subconscious.

Ian Richards

The dream state can be accessed to show us the potential of images in the media, that they can have moments of ecstasy, strange violent joy, if we only take the time to read them actively instead of passively.

(This particular intrusion of one reality into another was so powerful my camera couldn't capture it, so I borrowed evidence from DiG )

Elizabeth Rowe

The debris can be reformed, grow into new shapes, remind us of the creative possibilities we saw when we were young, before they convinced us that fun had to be bought.

Lucy McLauchlan

Or we can simply distill the adverts and logos into pure icons, sigils that refuse translation, while firing off endless associations.

Harry Blackett and Robin Kirkham

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EC Arts: 48 Sheet
Ian Richards
Elizabeth Rowe
Lucy McLauchlan
Harry Blackett and Robin Kirkham

Tiny Details, Grotesque Proportions

Went to opening of Elizabeth Rowe show at Walsall, I really like her work, and wanted to do a quick post about it. I usually try to write more about artist-led spaces, but unfortunately there hasn't been that much going on lately, might have a bit of a re-think about how to organise this blog...

As you arrive at the gallery, you see a display of juneau/projects work from their residency, great to see it here, like a music shop display from another world.

Liz's work is generally referred to as collage (she reworks imagery from catalogues, magazines etc) but is a lot more varied than this suggests. I'm really interested in how her recent work is bursting out of the confines of the frame, from tiny interventions that you almost don't spot, to a gigantic wall piece growing up the wall and ceiling of the space.

The imagery is surreal, schizophrenic, the products stop being tame and erupt into life, either merging into devouring monsters, or scuttling like insects at the edges of your vision. This is not to say that there is not humour in the work, in the face of the pressures of consumer overload, I'm left with the impression of liberation and play being found in the cracks.

Milee (Feng-Ru) Lee is currently doing a residency at Walsall, and I popped in to chat to her, she's been doing some beautiful drawings, and will be performing in the gallery at various points as her cute sheep character.

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Tiny Details, Grotesque Proportions is at The New Art Gallery Walsall, Gallery Square, WS2 8LG from 8th August - 28th September
artatwalsall.org.uk

juneau/projects site

Milee Lee's site