NYAB Event - Caragh Thuring Exhibition

Caragh Thuring Exhibition

Simon Preston Gallery

[Image: Caragh Thuring "Tar Map" (2015) bitumen, gesso, acrylic, oil, graphite on linen, 72 x 96 in.]

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Simon Preston Gallery presents Caragh Thuring’s third solo exhibition at the gallery.

This exhibition evolves the foundational components evident in the artist’s recent exhibition at the Chisenhale Gallery, London. Continuing with the series of window paintings, originally derived from her own photographs of Dutch suburban homes, Thuring perceives the windows as self-portraits of their owners. Considering the dual function of the windows as devices for observing and for being observed, the objects in these works become substitutes for traditional portraiture. The images are interrupted by reflection, surface and a constant reversal of interior and exterior space, disrupting straightforward readings of psychological perspective, as marked by the boundary of the window frame. Developing this series further, a recurring brick motif appears as a photogram, detached from the painting process, and adding a structured layer to the linen.

Similar to previous text paintings, which mapped the churches within the Square Mile of the City of London, two paintings depict the black hieroglyphics found on buildings in São Paulo and Rio de Janiero. The markings have their basis in Pixacao and are each particular to their individual cities. The typography does not interchange and functions as a public, but underground private language, simultaneously acting as demarcation of neighbourhoods.

Elsewhere, brick figures represent an impossible but idealized depiction of the human bodies that might inhabit these locations. Using printed linen sewn together to construct a surface, the paintings are based on specific advertisements that the artist has chosen specifically for their fantastical qualities. Each painting defines a territory within the built environment and alludes to a kind of visceral portrait.

Caragh Thuring (born 1972) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include The Chisenhale Gallery, London (2014/15); Anthony Meier, San Francisco (2013); Simon Preston Gallery, New York (2011); and Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2010). Group exhibitions include Call and Response at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise (2015); Live and Let Die at Modern Art, London; July at The Approach, London (both 2014); Performer As Curator, The Lowry, Manchester (2013); Troubling Space, Zabludowicz Collection, London (2012) and Newspeak: British Art Now, Saatchi Gallery, London (2010).