Elysium Gallery, Swansea showcases the work of 5 visual artists to whom drawing is the mainstay of their creative practise. The renowned artist, writer & curator Deanna Petherbridge is quoted as saying: ‘I work on drawing as a final product. It is my entire visual art practice: All I do is eat, sleep, think, write about, and do drawing. ‘
Artist David Schnabel suggests that ‘Drawing is the first discipline and the first battleground for the artist in his/her constant search for a meaningful statement….. the precarious balance of discipline and passion, intellect and intuition that are the lights and shadows of the creative act’
The show entitled Sublinear demonstrates 5 very different perspectives of this process and vindicates the vitality and contemporary relevance that drawing has in art today.
‘Who could have forecasted the expansion we are witnessing in the domain of drawing practices? It would certainly stretch the imagination of those who mistakenly believe that contemporary art practice is synonymous with site-specific installations bristling with digital media. Well, let them stretch – let them learn from this show how to expand their perspectives to take in the evidence of a high degree of visualcy, (visual literacy) nurtured by a grounding in drawing practice apparent here at Elysium Gallery.
Five dedicated practitioners, each applying their individual intelligence of seeing, but to a common end: the sharing of experiences of the world – perceptual, emotional, and imaginational – through the selection and combination of visual elements; line, tone, shape, texture and colour. Such tangible representations in turn allow us, the viewers, to adopt, adapt our moods, our attitudes towards those experiences being shared, thus realising the potential of one of the fundamental social functions of art: to make the familiar strange – to stretch our perspective on life. Elysium: a state of ideal happiness. How apt!’
Professor Howard Riley, Swansea Metropolitan University
Penny Hallas
Penny Hallas is concerned with the exploration of psychological states of being. ‘For me drawing is a focus of tensions, a place where different aspects of reality are brought into relation and react with one another’.
Hallas exhibits nationwide and recent exhibitions include Citizen at tactileBOSCH and Artemesia at St. Davids Hall both in Cardiff.
Dalit Leon
Dalit Leon’s work is primarily rooted in the unconscious mind- images, ideas and spaces unfold organically throughout the creative process. The unravelling of these hidden depths and unforeseen spaces, beyond the surface of the page, is at the heart of a meditative and transformational process.
Dalit currently lives in Kidwelly, South Wales, is artist in residence at Swansea Metropolitan University and will be studying at the Royal College of Art, London later this year. Upcoming exhibitions include Parralex AF , London in July and a part of a 2-person show at The Queens Hall Gallery, Narbeth in 2013.
Richard Monahan
For Richard Monahan ‘drawing is the most immediate and intuitive method of understanding. It questions a world we strive to understand and yet do not seem ready to’.
Monahan is currently researching a PhD into drawing and the possibility of its influence on other art media at Swansea Metropolitan University. A winner of The Leslie Joseph Young Artist Award, The Re :Drawing Student Prize and The University of Glamorgan Purchase Prize. He exhibits in the Mauger Modern gallery, London and has had solo shows in The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, The Ruthin Craft Centre, Chapter, Cardiff and Oriel Davies in Newtown.
Elizabeth Waterhouse
Elizabeth Waterhouse fastidiously creates intricate biro-drawn tangles of birds which tempt the viewer in with subtle hints prompting the viewer to further investigate and realise that there may be more to see if they look a little further.
Waterhouse lives and works in Cardiff and her work has recently been seen in Pop up, Mock up at Gallery A1, Edinburgh, Wunderland at tactileBOSCH, Cardiff and will be exhibiting at SA445XB in the Venice Biennale fringe later this year.
Fran Williams
Fran Williams explores the process of drawing, using the human form as a vehicle to create emotion. Life, death, change and time are predominant themes running through Williams’ work.
‘I use drawing within my work as a contrast to the abstract/mark making elements…it’s a subtle balance of form and feeling’.
Selected Shows this year include a Solo show at Bo-Lee Gallery Bath and a group show at Signal Gallery London in June.
Private view / Golwg Breifat
Friday 24th June 2011 7 – 9PM
Gwener 24ain Mehefin 2011 7 – 9YP
Exhibition continues until 16th June 2011
Arddangosfa yn parhau tan 16eg Gorffennaf
Open Wednesday – Saturday 12 – 5PM
Amserau agor Mercher – Sadwrn 12 – 5YP
Admission free / Mynediad yn rhad ac am ddim
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