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The
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Preview:
Wednesday 7 July 2004
At first
glance, Rezi van Lankveld’s paintings may appear like abstract swaths
of marbled paint but, with a closer look figures become visible. Van Lankveld
develops the visceral imagery through a process of pouring paint on to
board. Frequently the figures that emerge from the oil are female characters
with a strong presence that is corporeal and intimate but defiantly ambiguous.
Her paintings are darkly phantasmic with glimmering possibilities, ’The
gloom, as in fairy tales is not one-dimensional. Despite the grisly intimations,
a clarity of feeling, even a light heartedness occasionally makes itself
felt – look at these paintings too long and your eyes begin to adjust
to the dark’ (1) Evren Tekinoktay collects popular images from her family’s photo albums and the media, which she subtly re-draws and re-presents in a complex iconography about growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s. Rather than offer the familiar feminist critique of sexism in the media, Tekinoktay traces a historical shift in female identity without judging its protagonists, or its outcome. Woman becomes a curious creature that appears in many forms, both familiar and made new by Tekinoktay’s collages, drawings and sculptures. A parallel project she has undertaken is the opening of her shop 'Tekinoktay Lingerie'’ based in her hometown Copenhagen. The shop itself is like a collage which brings alive a crossover female universe. Dani Jakob
takes her influence from a variety of eclectic sources: German Romanticism,
esoteric, Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal and Far-Eastern, as well as Western styles
of cultural history build up the mnemonic vocabulary of the artist. Jakob
has developed a process of silk painting, a technique that enables her
to achieve extreme illusionary effects, with colours flowing into one
another to form magical depths. At the same time there is something ordinary
about silk painting; it calls to mind batik kitsch, rock concerts and
‘women’s crafts’. In ‘double xx (shizo mix)’
the figure of hip-hop queen Foxy Brown appears like a high priestess of
alchemical magic. Foxy re-appears in many of Jakob’s paintings as
the artist is fascinated by her iconic but fractured self-presentations.
For Further information and images contact Emma Robertson at The Approach +44(0)20 89833878 / info@theapproach.co.uk 1st Floor, 47 Approach Road, London E2 9LY. Tel 020 8983 3878/Fax 020 8983 3919 |
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