ken    artspace



Liz Rideal

Ethereal Twins (enshrouded presence)


 Ken Artspace  is pleased to introduce a new exhibition of work by the artist Liz Rideal


Exhibition extended until 23rd November


New exhibition opening times:

13, 14, 15 and 20, 21, 22 November with the artist present.

Gallery opening hours 11.00 - 17.00 Thursday 7 Friday, 11.00 - 16.00 Saturday



Cloud formations at dusk beside the sea and Fantin-Latour’s (1836-1904), L'Aurore et la Nuit, are the conceptual inspirations behind these large abstract watercolours. Suspended pigment particles mix, stain and shift both visually and physically across a field of white rag paper. Overlays of colour suggest - through smudge and nudge - amorphous twinned shapes. Gradual concatenations construct imagined land-and cloud-scapes: a meditation on the urge to create from barely anything at all.
Technically, Rideal’s recent images juggle the unpredictability of paint in the manner of Frankenthaler, exploring the delicate medium of watercolour on a large surface, coupled with the chance results of decalcomania. Intuitive manipulation, mixing and layering of colour into wet or dry surfaces offer surprising combinations and effects.

In another type of symmetry, two watercolours are rendered in transparent silk, one viewed at the relative distance between the gallery window and its back wall, the second suspended with a small space between silk print and watercolour. This installation references the focal length of the camera eye and furthers the analogy with translucent layering.

‘Decalcomania’ was the name the Surrealists gave to the process of creating Rorschach-type images by trapping paint between two sheets of paper. The emphasis was on chance and the potential identification of imagery (similar to seeing abstract shapes become specific forms within cloud patterns, in the manner of Polonius’s exchange with Hamlet, ‘Very like a camel’…)

A 'leporello' (a form of concertina pamphlet) with an essay by Mark Gisbourne has been specially produced for the exhibition.


Ethereal Twins essay download


Blue Dolomites, 2024. Watercolour on Atlantis Giant Paper 400gsm, 121.9cm x 152.4cm



About the artist


Liz Rideal is an artist and writer living in London. Professor at the Slade School of Fine Art. She has exhibited widely in museums and galleries in Europe and America. Her artwork is held in public collections including Tate; Victoria & Albert Museum; British Museum; The National Portrait Gallery; The Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Museet for Fotokunst, Denmark; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; The George Eastman Museum; The Yale Centre for British Art; The Philadelphia Art Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rideal has received a Leverhulme Fellowship, a British Academy Award and a Scholarship at the British School at Rome. Her publications include books on self-portraiture, portraiture and a best-seller: How to Read Painting, (Bloomsbury, 2014).


www.lizrideal.com




Ken artspace is a small new art space in the heart of Kennington.

 Run by artists and founders Rob Kesseler and Agalis Manessi  is

dedicated to a mix of occasional exhibitions, window installations

and pop-up events.




ARCHIVE


2020

Leap                                                                    Rob Kesseler & Agalis Manessi

Taster                                                                 Paul Ashurst, Maria Chevska, Stephen Nelson, Liz Rideal

Slice                                                                    Rob Kesseler 

Decadence of Rebelegance                     Earl of Bedlam

Seasonal Fruit                                               Rob Kesseler


2021

Fieldwork 1                                                     Alice McCabe

Sliver Hope Optimism Linings                Paul Ashurst

Easter Parade                                                Agalis Manessi

Resistance is Fertile                                    Justin Knopp – Typoretum

Liminal Landscapes                                     Ken Taylor

Flood                                                                  Rob Kesseler & Agalis Manessi

Polytunnel                                                       Marco Kesseler

Observe - Obverse.                                     Jacqueline Duncan


2022

Northern Light                                              Cecilia   Bortoluzzi - Brocklin

Slice                                                                    Rob Kesseler

The Surrogate                                             Jefford Horrigan

Little Wretches                                          Stephen Nelson

I'm all ears....                                                 Maria Chevska

Being Colour                                                Rosemary Phelps


2023

The Small Stuff                                             Garth Lewis

Catalogue of Time                                       Maiko Tsutsumi

Signifying Nothing.                                     Robert Dawson

Oracle                                                               Antoni Malinowski.                       

That Playful Place                                       Deborah Duffin                           

Mixed Marvels                                              Group exhibition


2024

Gathering                                                       Jocelyn Clarke

Nearly not there, actually very             Jo Lewis

Someone I know                                        Andrew Carnie                                                     

Open Studio                                                 Aliki Braine




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