West, London
Group Exhibition
Figurative Impressions: Interwoven Perspectives
Hurst ContemporarySuzy Spence, KI Yoong, Lindsey Bull, Jorge K. Cruz, Afonso Rocha, Anna Sebastian, K.T. Kobel, Suzanne Clements, Rachel Clancy Hurst Contemporary opens the doors at it’s Beak Street location, welcoming its first exhibition Figurative Impressions: Interwoven Perspectives with work by 9 artists. Suzy Spence | Vermont & New York City, USA | has gained international acclaim for her figurative paintings that modernise the classical genre of sporting art. Spence's paintings delve into the intricacies of athleticism, risk-taking, and the relationship between nature, strength, and fragility, often incorporating elements of equestrian culture to challenge traditional roles and meanings while exploring the intersection of the traditional and the contemporary. Through her adept handling of paint, her highly charged cultural references are at home within a unique, immediate, and vibrant visual world, building an artistic experience that is both deeply personal and at times necessarily political. Ki Yoong | London, UK | creates portraits that are intricate and captivating, focusing intensely on the subject's face to evoke emotion and identity while challenging the observer's relationship with what they see. Through meticulous composition, delicate brushwork, and personalised framing, Yoong creates an intimate connection between the viewer and the portrayed individual, prompting reflection on one's own assumptions and experiences. By eschewing background detail, Yoong prompts viewers to project their own narratives onto the subject, turning the portrait into a mirror of self-discovery rather than a window into another's life. Lindsey Bull | Manchester, UK | delves into the intricacies of human psychology through her figurative paintings, particularly exploring the diverse facets of female identity. Bulls work delves into ritualistic behaviour, performance, and costume, constructing scenarios of imagined myth-making. Through these figurative works, they manifest a sense of strength and vulnerability. Light and colour play an important part in her paintings, intensifying or muting the emotional state of the figures. A recent body of work; The mirror series, explores reflections, duplicity and distortions. The figure is twinned with an image that opens up a possibility of an alternative reality. Jorge K. Cruz | New York City, USA | originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, prior to emigrating to New York City at the age of 17. His approach to painting is intuitive and experimental, navigating the dynamic interplay between past and present, familiarity and starkness, nostalgia and immediacy. Cruz's work embodies a fusion of romanticism, nostalgia, and expressiveness, often delving into abstraction to reflect on the complexities of everyday life. Through his practice, he strives to distill intricate subjects into simple yet profound truths, recognising the power of simplicity in addressing profound themes. Afonso Rocha | Porto, Portugal | explores the intricacies of social and interpersonal dynamics, employing irony and humour to dissect contemporary life. Using collage as his primary medium, Rocha layers diverse sources of information and references atop one another, creating compositions characterised by their contradictory and emotionally ambiguous nature. Drawing from intimate experiences as well as a wide array of cultural influences such as literature, photography, social media, and cartoons, Rocha’s work challenges conventional narratives and questions the legacy of western art while constructing semi-idealised realities that juxtapose vulnerability with complexity. His paintings, characterized by a deadpan tone, often explore childhood themes, banality and desire, whilst also scrutinising sexual politics and interrogating stereotypical social and familial roles. Anna Sebastian | London, UK | delves into imagined and emotional realities, challenging the conventional boundaries between the natural and the artificial, as well as the evident and the perceived. Her practice is deeply rooted in alternative and imagined realities, drawing inspiration from myth, history, and religion. Through her paintings, Sebastian navigates the interplay between the natural and artificial realms, offering a glimpse into emotional states accessible through practices such as psychoanalysis and esoteric belief systems influenced by non-Western traditions. Her oeuvre shapes these emotional landscapes, inviting viewers to contemplate the complexities of perception and reality. K.T. Kobel | Amsterdam, NL | delves deep into the complexities of human existence, probing into nuanced ambivalence and ominous scenarios. His artistic approach involves isolating fragments of memory, transforming them into enigmatic symbols that intentionally lack broader narrative contexts. This technique results in artworks where fleeting memories serve as elusive signifiers, perpetually just out of reach. Kobel's paintings freeze moments in time, blurring the lines between lived experience and reality. Through a cinematic perspective, his work navigates temporal intersections, providing insight into the intricate relationship between memory and the human condition. Suzanne Clements | London, UK | explores the endurance and resilience amidst life's uncertainties, both emotionally and physically, serving as the guiding force behind her artistic practice. Through autobiographical narratives centered on women and imbued with elements of performance, metaphorically examining the human condition. Clements practice distorts reflections of subjects, unveiling layers of vulnerability and fragility. The self-portrait becomes a space for both revelation and concealment, inviting multiple interpretations from viewers. Tensions between figuration and abstraction, representation and materiality are palpable as Clements meticulously renders subjects through a process of layering glazes. This poetic approach unveils emotional tensions amidst aesthetic adversity, evoking a haunting sense of exposure and introspection. Rachel Clancy | Manchester, UK | thematic interests revolve around artifice, trickery, and illusion, manifesting in enigmatic compositions that evoke a sense of mystery, with each layer subtly concealing and revealing clues within the artwork. The deliberate layering of thin glazes creates an illusion of depth and luminosity, deceiving the viewer on a two-dimensional plane. Influenced by 16th-century Dutch still life, Clancy meticulously articulates light and shadow to achieve lifelike surfaces. Amidst a digitally influenced society she advocates for the importance of contemplation in contemporary painting, reflected in the slow and intricate process that invites viewers to pause and engage deeply with the work. The paintings prompt a psychological encounter, as ghostly figures and familiar elements stir memories while encouraging viewers to project their own experiences onto the depicted spaces beyond the frame.