So often the exhibitions which showcase the best and new talent within the art world are under the title of a ‘contemporary art’ exhibition. These seem to translate as a group show offering a wide and variety mix of art works, through the use of a range of mediums. When an exhibition embraces one element such as painting, sculpture, film, it seems to give the audience a chance to engage with the true nature of a particular art practice. These exhibitions allow the viewer to become more connected with how an artist response to a certain media.
‘Wet Paint’ was first brought to my attention by Richard Baker, a tutor at Leeds College of Art, who was displaying his painting in the exhibition. As an art student being offered the opportunity to see one of your tutors work in an exhibition space is always a chance to be able to understand them better as artists and peers rather than primarily as an educator. Alongside looking forward to seeing Richards work, I was also excited to visit Enjoy Art Space an exhibition space in Leeds I was yet to see.
Arriving slightly late around 8pm, the space looked almost shut, mildly puzzled as to if I had the right place or the right date, but the door appeared to be open so I entered. On first glance the place was not what I had been expecting at all, a fantastic and interesting space with stairs seemingly going on forever. Looking around it appeared the space was also studios as well as housing the exhibition. Having climbed to the top of the stairs, I reached a wonderful room filled with paintings.
Instantly I was searching for Richard’s painting the piece which I had come to see. Delightfully small, yet beautifully proportioned was ‘Collection Only 019’ a painting of a chair but with no one sat in it. The usual context for a chair in painting would be to have someone placed upon it; however the notion of it being left empty was an interesting one. Next to Richards work was Lee Buccilli ‘Pink Puma’ another small scale painting but of a helicopter. For me the exhibition had a great sense of flow, a mix of scales of painting all sitting comfortably against each other.
The humorously named ‘Every Little Helps’ by Victoria Frost, was a photoshopped college of a pre- Raphaelite, whereby the figure lying in the water had a Tesco carrier bag over her head. Although not a painting itself, its play on the notion of a painting was interesting. Perhaps another playful experimentation with paint was Steven Gee- ‘Idle Monochrome’ (Purple) gloss paint on wood. I call this playful for a personal reason that, for me, it looked like a tongue! It was almost if the paint was leaping off the wood and appealing to the audience. It still seems to be rare, that paint is almost used in a three-dimensional way in modern art.
Perhaps going back to modern day painting but in a conventional way, were Judith Tucker’s pieces. Two beautifully bold and bright pieces, which seemed to explore the natural versus the un natural, with the title of one being ‘Where The Concrete Meets The Trees’. Again on a larger scale, Mike Powell’s ‘Flight’ this really allowed an audience engagement. As a viewer you had to look at what first seemed like colours, to understand that there were in fact powerful images embedded inside a sea of paint. I have just begun to scratch the surface of the paintings in this exhibition but these are the ones which I was instantly drawn too.
The gallery space was not what I was expecting, but I am beginning to expect the unexpected as the art world in Leeds increases. The artist and the viewer have to become much more engaged and aware of a setting, as we see less and less of the classic gallery space. I look forward to more exhibitions from this space and others that seem to be springing up around Leeds. The choice of paintings all sat extremely well in the Enjoy Art Space, and I did just that, I enjoyed the exhibition, thoroughly.
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