-
Lee Simmonds
Kaleidoscopes -
-
-
In Untitled (Snails) we see this process unfold before our eyes as multiple forms and figures rise up out of a green mass of paint that appears at the top of the canvas as dense and feathered as a meadow or forest of trees and at the bottom, rippling like a dark pond. Within this strange, in-between world, a figure fishes his arms into the depths, giant turquoise snails cling to the side of his head, a duck nestles into the curve of his torso and the curved neck of white goose frames an orange sky. Meanwhile, other, murky and fluorescent shapes shift suggestively before the gaze.This idea of duality or multiplicity runs throughout the show – a defiance perhaps against the ways in which the static nature of an image, one moment caught in time, can create a fixed and often one-sided perspective, but also reflecting on generative modes of image-making whereby one pattern or line leads on to another. To create paintings such as Drawing Room Simmonds used stencils from elements of other pieces to land upon an entirely new composition, while other works employ translucent glazes that allow him to gradually build up layers of mark making without losing what’s beneath. The former process reflects on the history of kaleidoscopes as a generative tool that was used to produce new patterns that were made into fabrics, while the latter traces the artist’s gaze and hand as he follows the paint to delineate a form and also reveals the seemingly endless possibilities of a single surface.In this way, Simmonds not only pushes the boundaries of how painting has traditionally been perceived but also challenges its potential redundancy in the rapidly changing world of AI-powered art forms. It is an expansive and evolving medium, he suggests, one that can ignite the imagination and unlock new ways of seeing.
-
Enquire
-
-
Lee Simmonds: Kaleidoscopes
Past viewing_room
