KIRSTEEN PIETERSE PAUL DAVIES Re:Constructions
12 November 2009 - 28 November 2009
The Cat Street Gallery is proud to present Re:Constructions, an exhibition featuring two artists who draw inspiration from architecture and the built environment. Employing a distinct medium and approach, each artist responds to man made constructions and architectural landscapes in their own way to great aesthetic effect.
Australian artist Paul Davies creates atmospheric paintings which draw heavily upon American and Australian modern architecture. The paintings are part-stylised, whilst also featuring more abstract painterly motifs, resulting in a thoroughly compelling, contemporary style. Key to the success of Davies' work is attention to detail and site studies of iconic modern architecture. The buildings are the protagonists in Davies paintings and remain vacant of people to reinforce the original concept of the architecture. Further, by allowing the scene to remain uninhabited, the artist creates a sense of foreboding and surrealist overtones. In creating this unique style of landscape painting, Davies sights inspiration from some of the world's greatest living artists such as Peter Doig, David Hockney and David Schnell.
Scottish sculptor Kirsteen Pieterse draws on an enduring interest in the landscape and the structures that man builds within it. In her architectural sculptures, wall pieces and drawings the artist considers the natural world and the effect this power can have upon built environments. In her latest body of work Pieterse makes specific reference to the Hong Kong environment, using the city's iconic bamboo and also transparent acrylic to evoke wet weather. The artist's work displays a powerful duality between something which is physically sound and strong but which appears fragile or ruinous. In essence, the precariously leaning and balanced works speak of time and erosion and seek to demonstrate the romance, strength and enduring might of the natural world.
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