The Value of Liveliness

04.05.18 - 02.06.18

Sophie Giller
Wendy McLean
Francesca Mollett
Matthew Musgrave

Opening Friday 4th May from 6.30-8pm

In our society we are constantly surrounded by images, and more specifically by digital images. They appear through the same formats, their dimensions only varying according to the size and scale of mediators such as the screen of your phone, computer or TV.

According to Isabelle Graw in her essay ‘The value of liveliness’, social media sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook market our ‘life events’. Therefore, it is not surprising that painting is still a popular media nowadays, as Graw states, it is ‘particularly well positioned in such an economy since it gives the impression of being saturated with the life of its author.’

However, art is not so quickly consumed because of this relationship between the author and their work. To be appreciated, the viewer must spend time to fully embrace the artwork, an exchange similar to that of the artist’s labour to produce it. Here, with abstraction particularly, an ‘image’ may begin to appear, likewise for the viewer as for the artist, from their time spent on the work.

Curated by Francesca Mollett and Anaïs Lerendu

images: Damian Griffiths