The following text is taken from a review posted during November 2010 on a previous site. It was part of a collection of reviews that assisted me in contextualising my art practice within the parameters of (visual) anthropology. Presented in its originally form, I have edited the text to reflect the correct tense; the content remains ostensibly unaltered.
Upon visiting Jerwood Encounters This Must be The Place, a member of
staff suggested that I also visit new work exhibited at Poppy Sebire Gallery
located on Copperfield Street SE1. Ms Sebire (and her terrier, Louis) welcomed
me into the gallery that both intimate and airy, allowing adequate space to reflect
upon the work. The exhibition, entitled New Chapter, was sensitively curated with themes of natural
history, masks and abstract hand coloured etchings positioned harmoniously next
to one another.
Boo
Ritson is a sculptor/painter/photographer who works
within multi-media, producing work that links the three disciplines. Previous
work by Ritson exists as a media hybrid of painting, photography and elements
of performance art. Models are clothed according to specific occupations and/or
stereo (type). The artist paints directly onto models in a manner that is
reminiscent of portraits by Glenn Brown and then she photographs them as living
sculptural forms. By concealing the eyes with reflective sunshades, the effect
is heightened. The obscuring effect of the eyewear creates a jarring sensation
in the viewer (a sensation attenuated in the images where the model doesn’t
wear the shades. It is as though the illusion is contingent upon the anonymous
persona of the living mannequin). After four years of developing her practice,
Ritson’s work appears to have evolved further towards statuary constituents in
her imagery. The most prominent work displayed was a painted costume placed
beside a large format photograph of a model wearing the same. One is conscious
of an allusion towards fetish outfits (the livery, at first glance, appeared to
be a rubber nurses uniform), but also an idea of theatrical costume. Somewhat
unnerved, I felt that there was a blurring between the consolidated images.
D van Eden
D van Eden
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