The current exhibition at the Traffic Jam Galleries is a vibrant, powerful and colourful group show. There are nine artists in total , with each artist having just a couple of works on display.
Don’t forget to have a look in the windows too before you enter as works are included as part of the exhibition with some of the works being hung facing the street.
The exhibition features artists who are part of the ‘stable’ of artists , some new to the gallery , some who are old friends.
This particular exhibition celebrates the fascinating human body and the variety of forms it is able to take through a creative practice.
Works range from those that examine the emotional resonance of a simply standing figure through to the declaration of independence of the body and movement.A dialogue is opened between the various artists and their creative forms.
The artists featured are :
Julie Hutchings’ work is represented by nudes and horses (eg High Tea and War Horses) and is full of exuberant lines and bold dynamic composition.
Claire Kirkup with her Inkfloats 1 & 2 is a very eye-catching abstract diptych of nudes . Another nude of hers is Sitting Girl with a huge mass of hair falling over one eye. Long hair also features in the wonderful Waterfall.
Kathryn McGovern’s delicate work, full of incredible detail in her use of pen, ink and watercolour, depicts women in huge eighteenth century wigs out of which zoom astonishing birds (spot the toucan and look for the bluebird.) There is also a deceptively fragile butterfly. A beautiful lady’s eyelashes look like a pair of sunglasses.
Danielle McManus’ Rise Above is an enchanting, delicate portrait of a young tightrope dancer.
Mia Oatley’s Fire Lady is stark and dramatic. Her Night Queen is a loose and expressive portrait, vivid with its pink, yellow and green and large earrings.
Rebecca Pierce’s Mermaid In The Sun with its red background is bright, exuberant and flowing textured with shells and flowers.Three of her delightful other works featured in recent exhibitions are also included.
Jon Schultz’s Pretty Boy is a medium to large size work that is actually somewhat unsettling .It is quite dramatic and the huge deeply shadowed and troubled eyes are confronting. Skin Deep with its skull beneath the skin comes across as a momento mori or an allusion to a Jacobean revenge tragedy.
Johanna Wilbraham’s work, for example, Self Portrait with Delft is full of fabulous floral detail in the depiction of the dresses and features a bold,striking use of texture including gold paint. It is as if the body is fluidly travelling through time, able to move between past and present. There is a wonderful sense of ‘aliveness ‘, and the eyes in the portraits speak luminously.
Kristian Williams’ work is bold and abrasive with an explosive use of colour.
Recommended, this is an exhibition that has something for everyone.
BOOTY AND BUST is exhibiting at the Traffic Jam Galleries until Thursday 28th April.