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g39: Anna Barratt - 16 May 2008 to 14 June 2008 Current Exhibition |
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Anna Barratt 17 May - 14 June Exhibition open: 11-5.30 Wednesday to Saturday, to 14 June The drawings and notebooks of Anna Barratt are in a long tradition of absurdist work. Meticulously and delicately executed in vibrant colours and fine pen lines, they are surreal tableaux � occasionally nightmarish, but with personal or autobiographic details that run through this new body of work. Although she draws on personal references, Anna talks of looking at the drawings objectively in order to work in this way rather than retreating to this private world: �Drawings are coming from tensions and isolation from being in a domestic setting, dealing with the here and now and the strange play world of my son. Then I switch to submersing myself in my work.� Anna has also produced simple animations or moving drawings for this exhibition: a crudely animated figure is drawn with the shimmering lines of early cartoon techniques; although apparently human, it has wagging tail � a sign of contentment, or agitation? Another piece, Cut in half, is made from pages of her notebook. Details within the drawn imagery emanate, develop and change, and the animation is looped, completing a process of transformation to restoration. The short loop and organic growth of these moving drawings cause them to become mesmeric and hypnotic, giving them the capacity to hold the viewer in a trance-like state. She drags up dream-like images from the subconscious with undercurrents of conflict and nightmares. Her work has been described as �hotwired to the unconscious�, and is greatly influenced by her travels in Mexico, Turkey and Istanbul. Her pieces have a �lo-fi� feel which gives them an emotional rawness and naivety, but which maintains an ambiguity that leaves interpretation with the viewer. Anna�s imagery unites the everyday with carnivalesque: animals and people are woven into a world that owes as much to celtic or medieval mythology as it does to contemporary life in all its messy and differentiated forms. It seems that the search for meaning or connection may be the essence of Anna�s work, not the discovery. �Snakes, worms and serpents come up in my work a lot. I identify with these creatures as renegades, symbols of revolution, creative process. While attending a wedding a few months ago in an old Gower church, the vicar at the service was giving a sanctimonious sermon about religion at home.... then I spotted a red snake on the stained glass next to me and it made me feel bloody great!� Anna Barratt: Born in Swansea, Anna Barratt studied in Southampton and Wimbledon printmaking school before returning to Wales to start a family. Previous exhibitions include �Stepfamily�, London and �Spectre vs Rector� at The Residence gallery London. Back in Wales she exhibited at the National Eisteddfod in 2006. G39 in 2008 � �Show One of Each� season and publication For g39�s 2008 programme we return to Show One of Each, our season of solo exhibitions, profiling some of the artists we consider to be the most innovative and relevant in Wales, while we actively support the progress of their careers as professional artists throughout the season and beyond. Previous artists: Neil McNally (16 February � 15 March) and Mike Murray (5 April � 3 May) A season publication will shortly be published, available from g39. |
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