'Types of Abstract' exhibition by Art Number 23

‘Types of Abstract’ Exhibition Catalogue Alessandra Sequeira Maggy Milner Shaikha ALDismal Kelly Ewing Francesca Wilcox Christina Koutsolioutsou Ivy Panesar Gill Hewitt Joe Warrior Walker Marion Hingston Lamb James David Hopkins asdesign.

Judith Beedy Sally Burch Chlo Elizabeth Atule Margaret Akpa

July 2018

V.23- The Old Biscuit Factory 100 Clements road, Block F, SE16 4DG

INDEX 1. Alessandra Sequeira 2. Maggy Milner 3. Shaikha ALDismal 4. Kelly Ewing 5. Francesca Wilcox 6. Christina Koutsolioutsou 7. Ivy Panesar 8. Gill Hewitt 9. Joe Warrior Walker 10. Marion Hingston Lamb 11. James David Hopkins 12. asdesign. 13. Judith Beedy 14. Sally Burch 15. Chlo Elizabeth 16. Atule Margaret Akpa

Art Number 23 is a London-based organisation, mainly responsible for curating art exhibitions inside the U.K. and overseas. The aim is to create opportunities in order to encourage and support artists from all over the world to exhibit and promote their work.

Previous projects of Art Number 23 include exhibitions in NYC and Philadelphia (USA), Moscow (Russia), Berlin (Germany), Athens (Greece), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Timisoara (Romania). www.artnumber23.uk / info@artnumber23.uk

alessandraseq@gmail.com / www.sinapsisequeira.blogspot.com

Alessandra Sequeira

“The famous Fibonacci sequence has captivated mathematicians, artists, designers and scientists for centuries. Also known as The Golden Ratio, its ubiquity and astounding functionality in nature suggests its importance as a fundamental characteristic of the universe”.

This is the reason why as an artist i was inspired by this powerful pattern. For me “The Golden Ratio” represent a tangible map where we can project our intentions as a human race, collaborating with each other to transform reality. The organic measurements holding this pattern becomes a starting point , where i can visualize my own energy projected an entangled with intent with another, innite times. Where connected we can transform everything around, inside and beyond ourselves. I believe consciousness works in the same fashion, creating ascending spirals that can only be activated when humanity is perceived as One! ‘The Golden Ratio’, 200cm x 60cm, Ink on Paper, 2018

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magsmiln@sky.com / www.maggymilner.com

Maggy Milner

My work relating to the theme ABSTRACT was made due to my fascination for light and shadow, the transience of sunlight, and the reflective qualities of glass etc.

I have worked and exhibited nationally and internationally as a photographer within a contemporary art context.

I am fascinated by contradiction, disparity, eccentricity and the whimsical elements of our contemporary world. Her work is often issue based but with ambiguous, multilayered readings. When working in her studio, or at specific sites, her projects rely on fantasy, narrative and/or abstraction to convey ideas.

‘STALKS AND SHADOWS’, Photography 2015 16” x 12.5”

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www.vimeo.com/user61701341 / shaikhaaldismal@gmail.com

Shaikha ALDismal

This artwork revolves around a collection of five masks that resulted in a short experimental video. During the process of creating the collection I considered the intersection between fashion and art, Charles Bukowski’s poetic imagery, the cult films of Alejandro Jodorowksy and my own phobias, trypophobia to be exact. This approach was influenced by Hussein Chalayan’s notion of being an immigrant between different disciplines, drawing from all of them to form your practice. The final video is layered with an ambient audio track, created in order to trade dominance with the visual throughout the video.

‘Untitled’, Video, 2018

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www.kellyewingartist.co.uk / kellyewing18@gmail.com

Kelly Ewing

My practice is primarily concerned with the theories of abjection and the monstrous feminine, seeking to examine the relationship between the prior and the role they inhabit in forming the archetype of the ‘monstrous woman’ or ‘femme castratrice’. Interested in this relationship between the monstrous feminine and the abject female body, I seek to investigate how my female body, female sexuality, and feminine sexual behaviour transgresses conventional gender roles and societal and cultural expectations on acceptable conduct and presentation of oneself. As a means of investigation, I gather influence from my own personal lived experience of womanhood and the abject behaviours and processes required to make my body function. ‘(Airbed 1)’ seeks to draw connotations of intimate spaces, domesticity and my own aforementioned sexuality. ‘(Airbed 1)’, Mixed media on double inflatable bed, 137 x 190cm 4

www.fcwilcox.wordpress.com / francescawilcox@hotmail.co.uk

Francesca Wilcox

‘Sirmione’ is an exploration into Sublime landscapes through the use of technology and photography.

Sublime landscapes surround us everyday, through coastal paths or pastoral scenes to mountains; yet through the practice of modern society we tend to experience these spaces through the photographic lenses of our iPhones or cameras.

By doing so we don’t truly experience what can be overwhelming or exhilarating surroundings but instead distance ourselves with technological distractions.

Within my practice, as shown in ‘Sirmione’, I recreate Sublime landscapes which have been captured through my own phone; then accentuating the colours from the true landscape. The use of circles as the main motif of the work aids as a visual connection between pixelation, technology and the physical experience with the environment.

Through this methodology I aim to but make people think about how they truly interact with the landscape, and whether the use of technology either heightens or distorts our experience when surrounded by the Sublime.

‘Sirmione’. Oil on Canvas. 100.5 x 81cm. 2018 5

www.koutsolioutsou.com / koutsolioutsouc@gmail.com

Christina Koutsolioutsou My name is Christina Koutsolioutsou and I studieδ Painting in Camberwell College of Arts.

I am mainly working with words, colors and shapes and use humor to explore sociopolitical and identity issues. My themes are quite abstract and tend to have a subtle connection with the subconscious childhood nostalgia hidden inside our everyday lives .

I believe in the power of imagination and while I create I prefer to work towards the elimination of strong formations given either by our society or family backgrounds .

My point of view is that art should be shared and communicated with everyone , otherwise it becomes something still and lifeless. That is why I have created “ Cristina’s magic world” . A brand under which I am creating art objects and textile pieces made out of my paintings . I regularly showcase and sell them in markets and events in order to give the opportunity for everyone to engage with my art.

Collection of paintings and Textiles

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www.ivypanesar.co.uk / ivypanesar@hotmail.co.uk

Ivy Panesar

Seeing the world through a contemporary digital lens, Ivy aims to recreate the emotions perceived by scrolling through Instagram and Pinterest in an analog way; choosing the right colors.

Self-aware of the inspirational sensitivity to media around her, Ivy’s technique and practice takes on new aesthetics and intricacies from the world she sees - developing a circular relationship with her own work, and the environment she brings her painting into.

Her process begins with only two or three colors, and then expands from there; developing the desired aesthetic through splatter, dragging, and dripping layers. Not simply finishing in the studio, Ivy believes her paintings aren’t truly ready until she lives with them hung in her home for weeks. By self-exploration, Ivy has become attuned to how the world around her can influence art; being the most engaged by pieces that are raw and real, her most beloved influencers like Monet existed in a time where artists weren’t constantly deafened by a flood of media. To recreate this effect and to eliminate unconscious bias Ivy relies on pure energy when imagining new pieces.

Born in Adelaide, Australia, Ivy focused her study on art, design & music. Encouraged and supported to express herself through creative work, Ivy honed her ability over the next decades as she moved to Sydney, and then London, where she began her professional career as a painter.

‘Space’, Acrylic on canvas, 100x100, 2016 7

www.gillhewitt.com / gill@hewittstudios.co.uk

Gill Hewitt

Inspiration for artwork is usually taken from nature. This is a study capturing the moment when the swift movements of the Kingfisher emerge from the shadows of the tree canopy. An unexpected explosion of colour, movement and line - a memory of flashes of delightful, intense colour.

Artwork is developed through a process of collaging fabrics and fibres together in a painterly way and using a needle punch machine to blend the layers into one textile. Colour and texture are built into the artwork through layering, creating an intriguing depth to the finished artwork, with layers responding to each other in an interplay of light, shadow and movement. An encaptured moment.

‘Kingfisher 2’, Textiles, 70x70cm, 2017

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www.joewarriorwalker.com / joewarriorwalker@hotmail.com

Joe Warrior Walker

I am interested in how an image functions when reduced to a level that oscillates between abstraction and figuration. A point where a picture can exist on two levels simultaneously. As an image as well as an abstract composition.

Paintings relationship to other media such as print, photography and film has continued to be a central concern within my practice. I try to explore this relationship by merging these different processes within the work, to create a conversation and possible confliction between the mediums. Thus making the process a core subject of the work.

The surrounding urban environment inspires me. I often incorporate elements that hint to a contrasting setting, such as the familiar landscape of my previous home in Cornwall, or my Indian heritage. Architecture and nature are always strong visual themes. In this I try to form a constructed landscape assembled of re occurring pattern and motif.

‘When Dirt Settles And Patterns Form Pictures’ 2018, 100x64cm, mixed media on canvas

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marionhingstonlamb.co.uk / marionlamb1@gmail.com

Marion Hingston Lamb

The Boudoir Reflections series is a response to a room - the boudoir - in an old country house.

The boudoir was a room for the women of the house - was it a place of refuge and safety - or confinement? Does the separation of men and women offer freedom or restriction? This is a debate that continues.

Marion Hingston Lamb works mainly with textiles and wet felting in particular. Felting is a slow and immersive process involving the transformation of unspun wool fibres into lightweight cloth.

The multiplicity of textural and colour effects offered by this medium is used to explore the memories and feelings evoked by the natural landscape or the built environment, by places of repose and reflection, or of noise, anger and regret. Through the work the specific personal memory takes material shape, designed to be interpreted by the viewer in their own way. ‘Boudoir Reflections II’, 43.5cm x 51.5cm (framed) Wet felted textile: wool, silk, cotton, flax, nylon, mixed fibres, 2018

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jamesdhopkins.com / jamesdavidhopkins@gmail.com

James David Hopkins Created as the embodiment of an obsession, this painting was the climax into a year long forced fascination with horses in which I would study their form from life through the use of oil pastels and autonomous drawings. I created a series of 10 paintings which culminated with this final, larger piece.

Horses are a constant; they’re a symbol. A symbol for taste, a symbol for annoyance and contradictions, a symbol for bad art. A brand. An Easter Egg. The plastic, tacky, barbie-esque qualities combined with gestural spontaneity create an imbalance of impurity and uncertainty.

HOARSE, acrylic & oil on canvas, 175cm by 150cm, 2017

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www.asdesignlondon.com / alister@asdesignlondon.com

asdesign.

The unseen detail series responds to the physical observations of our daily lives. This idea developed from objects which we simply glance over and see as uninspiring, such as office ventilation diffusers. Viewed closely, most of these objects reveal complicated patterns based on mathematics. The patterns in the work are created with the same base. Simple mathematic equations creating a complex colour pattern distort the observers view. The structure of the piece is only unveiled when seen close up. The effect is similar to the “tick of the eye” colour tests.

‘onehundredandninety’, print, A4, 2018

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www.judithbeeby.com / judithpickering@aol.com

Judith Beeby

This painting is one of a series that are inspired by aerial photographs of the earth.

It is a subjective landscape of a fantasy land created by allowing the laws of physics to dictate the movement of the paint. The flow of the paint, just like the movement of water in a river, decides the shape of the work. The layer of resin covering the painting gives the impression of a shallow stream of clear water.

‘River Bend’, Gloss paint and resin on aluminium, 100 x 50 cms, 2017

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Instagram: sally.burch / sally.burch@sky.com

Sally Burch

These works are part of enquiry into time, space and placelessness. The departure from the reality of the source (the here and now) moves the image into an unrecognisable abstraction from time and place (could be anywhere, anytime). I start by photographing the ‘real’ landscape that I live in - an area well established in the grand history of landscape art where one of the masters of British landscape painting, John Constable lived and worked. Then, with ideas around the global circulation and sharing of images, the image is repositioned, rephotographed and rescaled, moving it away from an identifiable location and sense of place, and into abstraction.

‘Landscape : Noon’ C-Print on Wallpaper 54 x 44 cm

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www.chloelizabethh.com / chloelizabethhhh@gmail.com

Chlo Elizabeth

Elizabeth paints from the photographic image and is interested in how visual language changes from medium to medium. Primarily she works from found black and white photographs and aims to integrate the past and the present using the material qualities of p aint. The photographs, dating from the 1950s 70s, offer snapshots of life in agricultural Yorkshire. Elizabeth’s paintings highlight and exaggerate implicit power structures - between adult and child, man and woman - observed from the photographs. painting is a means to recondition the source material, whether it be the composition or the figures she’s painting, concepts and ideas change through making.

Figurative painting is core to Elizabeth’s practice, as is humour. She uses the latter as a way to connect with the viewer, and employs overt puns as titles to suggest themes.

‘Quit horsing around’ 85cm x 34cm, Oil on canvas, 2018

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www.atulemargaretakpa.com / aatulemargaret@yahoo.com

Atule Margaret Akpa Limitations are a constant reminder of our human imperfections. They enslave our minds by gradually transforming our beings into ‘minions’, either to ourselves or to society. They make us lose the sense of what defines us, who we truly are and what we can become or achieve until we turn out to be absolute strangers even to ourselves.

Fear is but one of the many forms of limitations and for several years, I, just like many others, have battled and sometimes struggle with a type of fear called ‘fear of social rejection’. Art is my way of understanding and overcoming and expressing my angst of this form of fear, which I interpret in abstract forms using different mediums.

I think of my artworks as both conceptual and reflective, often identified with elements from ancient African sculptures and paintings. Generally, I am inspired by structures and events from nature, historic and cultural themes.

Self Identity from the collection ‘Amid Unlimited limitations’ Acrylic on Canvas, 30 x 22 x 1.27, 2018

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Types of Abstract

V.23 - 100 Clements road Block F, The Old Biscuit Factory