STELLA CHRISTIE'S first solo show since leaving Glasgow School of Art
in 1987 creates a real impact at the Tricyle arts complex in Kilburn.
After trying to earn a living as a textile designer in a market that
wanted only small floral prints, she turned instead to painting and this
show represents 20 of her most recent works. Their effect in a stark
white room is stunning. Small, lyrical paintings demand close inspection
and their effect is akin to collage with the figures and animals that
populate the works cut out and arranged with minute attention to detail.
In general, the works present an intimate world in which animals run
as freely as the solitary, often female, humans. Food plays an important
role in Christie's work and the arcadian picnic is hinted at but without
any suggestion of sensual gratification. In The Meal, a single woman
sits at the head of a table and elegant spotted dogs leap playfully
around, but the fate of the two caged pigs in the background is
suggested by the inscription on the table legs: Rasher, Bacon, Ham.
Other picnic meals offer only bare bones.
Christie explains that two of the themes that interest her are of the
passing of time and of the kind of power play that is evident in the
food chain, which is graphically but never intrusively present in her
best works. These ideas are also present in Mute which derives its title
from the empty bubble escaping cartoon-like from a woman's mouth. It
seems that language (or its absence) and its relation to painting is one
of the underlying preoccupations in these works.
Whimsical phrases are often inscribed on works and the titles enrich
their meaning in an almost surrealist, evocative way. Bucket of Warm
Milk for example, depicts a woody glade with the eponymous bucket at its
heart. It is a strangely disquieting yet hauntingly beautiful work.
Taken together, the 20 works with their rich dark colours, lush
landscapes and small figures exude stillness and a sense of
anticipation.
It is a welcome and unanticipated pleasure to find such finely
crafted, thoughtful and thought-provoking works amongst so much
overblown and commercial art in today's cynical market.
* A Light Dip -- Recent Paintings by Stella Christie, is at Tricycle
Gallery, 269 Kilburn High Road, London, to August 14
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article