Note the challenging and intriguing title of Giles Oldershaw’s one-man exhibition of portraits, which is lent gravitas by the portrait illustrated. It captures the jowelled and impassively cruel face of a Marlon Brando style ‘godfather’.
It is a small exhibition composed of ten portraits of individuals’ heads and shoulders, none of which is captioned, providing the opportunity to explore the subject matter in one’s own way. The works are strong and uncompromising. In one a woman stares hopelessly, pleading for kindness that she clearly does not expect to find, and in another a woman appears to be protecting herself with an expressionless mask-like visage.
The exhibition as a whole fits well into the ambience of Green’s Cafe in Bonn Square, Oxford. It also creates an interesting dialogue between the faces of customers intent in conversation or immersed in the private world of their laptops and those captured in the portraits.
Oldershaw’s work is made particularly interesting by a medium —corrugated cardboard — he believes is unique to him. Each portrait is skilfully layered, allowing him to build up the final image. The base provided by the corrugation itself is over-laid with areas where the protective coating has been left intact and further overlays of card. The result is compellingly nostalgic, reminiscent of daguerreotype or photographs in ageing black-and-white newsprint.
On closer inspection the images dissolve to reveal the high level of technical skill involved in their construction. Oldershaw first developed this approach when, as a student, his tutor asked him to bring in an unusual portrait, which he did — of himself in corrugated cardboard. That portrait is also included in the exhibition.
The exhibition is open during cafe opening hours. It continues until the end of February, and will be back at Green’s Cafe for Oxford Artweek in late May.
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