INVISIBLE SUBJECTS IS A GROUP EXHIBITION AT CADOGAN CONTEMPORARY THAT EXPLORES THE IDEA OF PAINTINGS AS OBJECTs
Invisible Subjects is a group exhibition that brings together new work by Kim Bartelt, Tycjan Knut and LRNCE.
The exhibition explores the idea of paintings as objects, presenting three distinct approaches to abstract painting.The artists are unified via a shared emphasis on taking their painting into the third dimension, beyond colour and composition into structural and physical relationships.
An interest in tactility and surface is also evident throughout the exhibition, from Kim Bartelt’s embedded layers of coloured paper to LRNCE’s oil on embroidered, hand-woven fabric, and the contrasting textures of Tycjan Knut’s acrylic paint and marble dust on canvas and hand-constructed wooden frames.
Tycjan Knut’s overlapping layers of muted colour, have an effect that verges on optical illusion. By building up intersecting layers, he creates subtle tonal differences that trick the eye into perceiving new depths of these already highly structural objects. Knut is meticulous in the development of every physical element of the painting.This includes adding specific types of dust to texture small areas within the work and sourcing particular types of wood, from which he hand builds and nishes the frames as an equally important aspect of the overall construction.
Kim Bartelt trained in painting yet abandoned the medium in favour of using found paper in her compo- sitions. Bartelt painstakingly pastes layers of translucent paper that she has collected over many years.The idiosyncrasies of each piece of tissue – creases, folds, a raw edge here or there – offers new inspiration and, to a degree, predetermines the outcome of the nal piece, removing an element of control from the artist. These reused fragments allude to their past applications, bringing residual backstories together into a new uni ed whole and belying the seemingly solid minimalism of the overall composition.
In the first ever gallery presentation of her paintings and ceramics, LRNCE brings the familiar sensibility of her renowned design brand that has earned her a name amongst leading fashion, interiors and product designers. Her naive, indeterminate lines are balanced by an effortlessly refined sense for composition. Painted in oil and embroidered with wool onto organic cotton and burlap canvas, the artist’s paintings were the genesis of her work in ceramics and designed items. For LRNCE the boundaries are almost indistinguishable, a painting may inspire the creation of a domestic object and so on and so forth, leading to an endless lineage of creative potential. All of which created to be lived with and appreciated increasingly more each day.
The exhibition takes its title from the almost imperceptible details and structural elements in the works, which reveal their true nature gradually through attention and contemplation. Each artist addresses this passing of time, offering layers of aesthetic appreciation from the immediate to revelatory.
Throughout 2020 Cadogan Contemporary is celebrating a remarkable 40 year history as one of London’s longest-standing Contemporary art galleries. Invisible Subjects is part of a year-long exhibition programme that re ects on the gallery history as well as looking forward with previously unshown artists and new collaborations.
