The work we went to see on the day were: Lucy McKenzie's work at
Cabinet in Vauxhall, Violet Hwami at
Gasworks and Reason Gives No Answers at
Newport Street Gallery. Each show had something that drew me in...
-Lucy McKenzie's paintings were almost like cabinet of curiosities, painted in an observational way in its set up... the whole show had elements of one another scattered in different ways and locations, it was quite immersive, especially with the united colour scheme...
-for Violet Hwami at Gasworks... there was a very nostalgic and personal sense to the work... the way some of the paintings look almost digital was very inspiring as well... the richness of the colours used.. the way some parts are left out in the paint...
'Hwami’s courageous and tender oil paintings reveal a deeply personal vision of Southern African life. Many of her paintings feature self-portraits and images of her immediate and extended family. Powerful nudes are another point of departure, boldly raising questions about the black body and its representation, as well as sexuality, gender and spirituality. Her influences include music, such as ZimHeavy & Afrobeats; literature, including the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Carl Jung; and her own ongoing voyage of self-discovery.
The artist’s vivid work raises issues surrounding diaspora, displacement and identity. Her process involves experimenting with photography and digitally collaged images, using these to create large works on paper or canvas with intensely pigmented oil paint, and often incorporating other media and techniques, such as silkscreen, pastel or charcoal.'
-as for newport street gallery, I loved the sort of kitschy works you see in clean galleries like this one... sometimes you don't even pay that much attention to this kind of work... but recently I've been more drawn...there's something really fun but dark about it... I haven't really looked into the kitsch much yet, I will need to do more reading on this...
