Egerton Studio Group artists opened the doors again on Friday and Saturday to show new (or in my case - old) works to any who could climb the the stairs to the 4th floor.
Friday night was buzzing with visitors and felt like a private-view. Saturday saw fewer people venture up the stairs and felt like a hangover. A taste of what was on offer - apart from the booze.
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Liza AspellTaking the stylisation of grafitti or using the tactile properties of the media, Liza focuses on the figure and its fluids. Diary-like enties of text in loopy handwriting tell us of love, betrayal and yearning. Shiny red puddles dribble down intimate white squares of canvas. I can se why she is featured on The Lazarus Corporation’s website. |
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Pete BarberOne aspect of Pete’s characters is that they poke their tounges out at you. If you need reminding of the times you have come head-to-head with someone and finished not sure who came-out-on-top, then Pete’s figures can assist. Why they mock you-the-viewer is unclear but deep-down you know you deserve it. |
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Chris BarkeDepth, mystery, etheral, abstract. These paintings are atmospheric and evocative. Tucked behind the furniture in the space he shares with Zenon didn’t do them much justice though. |
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Paul MatosicPaul moves from illuminated polystyrene walls to free-standing illuminated polystyrene structures. The strip-lighting is more apparent in the tower than in the wall making them less atmospheric and increasingly literal. |
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Flavia OlivaresFlavias metal scultures are elegant and beautiful. From spindley wire forms with solid copper rectangles built-up with thin strips or their negative - solid forms built-up with thin strips and empty rectangular insets. While the forms of these pieces flow organically, the geometric inserts create a sense of functionality. Ritualistic, totemistic - fantastic! |
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David QuestaDavid continues to drift back in time and is now lurking somewhere between the 1960’s and 1970’s with this series of old cars. David’s approch is no longer explicitly narrative with these works. However, they are implicitly nostalgic, stiring memories in the viewer and to-some-extent, becoming the focus of the narratives we choose to project into them. This is emphasised by the ’soft-focus’ of David’s technique. These cars are not hard-edged, clinical or fetishistic, they are hazy and unclear - like old memories. |
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Paul WatsonPaul’s last show at Egerton before he moves to the south coast shows more police tape, fag-butts and nicotine varnish. Torn and decapitated photos of women are held captive in these inhospitable environs like a case-study of a serial-killer. If you have a life that keeps you away from late-night Channel 5, then Paul can give you a taste. For more on Pauls’ black world, visit his own site at http://www.lazaruscorporation.co.uk |
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Mik GodleyMik’s figures have had the colour strengthened over the last few months and the backgrounds of red, yellow and pink are screaming. The figures however remain strangely static and the heavy stylisation of their manner seems to fix them to past centuries rather than the present day. More of Mik’s work can be seem on his own site at: http://www.mikgodley.com/ |
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Zenon GradkowskiWhat’s this - a move to colour! If you came to the open, you could be forgiven for missing these little colour paintings as they are somewhat smaller than Zenon’s looming monochrome monsters. They are much friendlier than the work in the last open studio with a small, intimate size and bright, cheery colour. Be careful Zenon, people might start thinking you are happy! |
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Mark SelbyNothing new from me this time, but have been having a productive few months. By the time of the next open I should have some new stuff to put up. However, some good came out of it. Looks like I might be included to show with 5 other artists in St. Mary’s Gallery this December. Hello to Alexa |
Tags: Aspell, Barber, Barke, Egerton, Exhibitions, Godley, Gradowski, Matosic, Olivares, Questa, Selby, Studio, Watson
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Note from Mark Selby: Yes I know this was 7 years ago (!) but the move from my static HTML 4 website to wordpress is creating a few anomolies with dates, etc. Please bare with me on this.