UPCOMING SHOW:
Go Figurative is proud to present: Beyond Duality - a collection of paintings by Ignacio Lalanne exploring the binary oppositions within the self. The exhibition will be on 6th June until 30th June 2013.
'...Behind all the forms, lines, and theatrical pomp of my paintings lies hidden underneath the innermost sacred within us…which is invisible to the eyes ...' (Ignacio Lalanne).
In his art, Lalanne takes the viewer on a mysterious journey, combining narrative and symbolic elements. His work explores binary oppositions, especially the concepts of the sacred and the profane; illusion and reality; temporality and spirituality, within the self. Generally composed with a central figure, visual episodes spin around and envelope the figure to conjure an almost trance or dream-like status. Each enigmatic character takes on a life and story of their own, waiting for the viewer to discover it.
The influence of Lalanne’s background is both European and South American art history as well as court painting, period drama and diverse religious codes, rituals and iconography. All these unexpected juxtapositions of styles and mannerism are entwined and transformed by his imagination, interpretation and life experience making each work of fine art uniquely a piece of Ignacio Lalanne.
Argentine-born British artist Ignacio Lalanne has spent several years exploring and drawing inspiration from different parts of the globe. He has travelled extensively in his native South America, Europe and India, and we can find many traces of different cultures with their great diversity and paradoxes throughout his work.
In 2001 he established himself in London and trained at Chelsea College of Art and Design and Central Saint Martins where he graduated with a BA(Hons) degree in Fine Art. Since then he has continued exploring different painting techniques and other artistic expressions such as tableau photography and installations. He has also held several exhibitions in London and abroad.
CURRENT SHOW:
Go Figurative is proud to present Afshin Naghouni: Objectification.
The exhibition has now been extended until 31 May 2013.
YOU CAN WATCH A CLIP OF SETTING UP THE EXHIBITION AND AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST HERE.
Iranian artist Ash (Afshin Naghouni) talks about his work as follows: “Most of what we deem as real is an enhanced version, undergone serious plastic surgery and we are bombarded by this reality on daily basis. Repeat something enough times and it becomes your reality.”
Ash wants his artworks to demonstrate partly what Jean Baudrillard would call “the precession of simulacra” where the real itself is substituted by the signs of the real – the real has disappeared and is replaced by models “more real than the real”. Baudrillard believes this can only happen due to the system of objects and he considers this to be the real heritage of the serial production of the nowadays consumer society.
Ash’s work touches on the perception of the female body in art, especially emphasizing the interrelation of Muslim and Western women and asking which are oppressed and exploited and which are liberated?
He says, “We become what we wear and what we wear becomes even more important than the person who wears them. The person, the individual as well as the reality all dissolve in the veneer. I thrive on continually reminding my viewer that there is a darker, more sinister concept embedded within images which at first glance seem visually pleasing, harmless paintings and challenge them to discern what, if anything is real.”
You can read a Go Figurative's interview with British Library's Business and IT centre here and watch the clip of how Go Figurative got started here.
