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 21, 22, 23 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