31 May 2010

'A Bright and Guilty Place' at PayneShurvell, London

PayneShurvell is proud to present its first show, 'A Bright and Guilty Place'. Thirteen artists, working in mixed-media, interpret the notion of mapping and 'place'. The title of the exhibition, 'A Bright and Guilty Place', is taken from Orson Welles' Lady of Shanghai in which the classic hall of mirrors climax sequence intertwines the virtual and the actual.

At the beginning of the 21st century, we have a staggering array of digital mapping technologies and information programmes literally at our fingertips. Maps, once a means of explaining the world, of claiming ownership, have become a personal and psychological construct, as borders and land masses merge. This fluidity is explored as artists seek to identify their place in the world.

'A Bright and Guilty Place' is not about the map in a conventional sense but rather a mapping of the self, an artist's sense of place within this changing cartography.

The starting point for this exhibition was the concept of mapping and the ways in which artists explore the notion of mapping and cartography in their work. However, these are not just about points from A to B but are still very much about journeys and other kinds of exploration and express diverse ideas and broader themes. The work deals with place, time, personal geographies and means of location.

The artists are linked together by work that explores the purpose of mapping as a social construct and the use of measuring or navigating; work that explores our 'place'. Some of the artists' work is not only about specific fixed points in space and time but in stark contrast, deals directly with displacement and states of flux.

Most of the artists featured are not from one 'place' or even based in one 'place'. This is common for artists with their peripatetic lifestyles. It is this complex circuit of movement that inspires many of the artists in this show.

'A Bright and Guilty Place' is curated by Dermot O'Brien and James Payne.

About the Artists

Andrew Curtis explores an ongoing fascination for the British suburban landscape with a large scale unique print.
Anka Dabrowska, usually known for her delicate drawings on paper of urban Warsaw, tower blocks and shop fronts here shows 3-D work exploring similar themes.
Dan Hays' 2010 version of the piece 'Diversion' presents a treatment of page 62 of the London A-Z, with the financial heart of the City of London as an endlessly repeating pattern. This implies a completely hermetic, urbanised, capitalist globe, offering no way out and no way in.
LEO's work is from an ongoing series, The Trouble with People. Suggesting mindmaps, the work consists of a network of branches annotated with phrases.
Aidan McNeill's new photographic work documents the invasion of non-native plant and animal species to the UK.
Wrik Mead creates a very personal yet clinical view (mapping) of the human body with his video piece 'Manholes', as much a portrait as it is a mapping of the human body, divided into a series of peepholes.
Dermot O'Brien presents an austere but complex installation piece referencing geological and architectural markers.
Derek Ogbourne's intricate and labour intensive drawing is a re-imagining of a map of England.
Frank Selby exhibits his recent drawing 'Stop the Next Next War War', a work based upon miscommunications, failures of communication and gaps in communication.
Jeni Snell, who once attended a school in Guernsey built on top of a WWII German gun battery, highlights elements of her personal experience with these bleak landscapes of abandoned buildings.
Ian Whittlesea is showing a painting from the series 'Studio Paintings' which lists all of the addresses of studios occupied by the painter Mark Rothko.
Lucy Wood's work has often encompassed issues of denial and social exclusion. Here she presents a handcrafted map on animal skin, illustrating the experience of the economic migrant.
Mary Yacoob's work has long been concerned with the mapping and documentation of her daily life through drawing. For this exhibition, Mary will be making a new large scale installation piece.