| THE ECONOMIST presented by Contemporary Art Society |
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1 September - 15 October 2000
Paul Ryan
The small sketchbooks contain drawings, notes, watercolours, scribbles...sometimes these may be figurative representations of people and places, at other times abstract doodles, diagrams and maps. Selected pages have been re-examined on a large scale revealing the subconscious and/or accidental information they contain. The structure of a line observed with the physical eye, or the mind's eye, can be re-evaluated and interpreted revealing the thoughts involved. The amount of information 'encoded' into these small marks is often surprising. The end results of these enquiries are large-scale 'drawings' which at first appear spontaneous, but on closer inspection reveal a 'process' layered on top of the image. As starting points the sketchbooks lead to the other large works. In contrast the site-specific sketches onto the windows of The Economist building draw upon architectural and figurative elements from around the site, creating a relationship between the inside and outside. Ryan lives and works in London, has exhibited both in the UK and abroad, most recently at Gallery 3, 14 Norway and at the MK Ciurlionis State Museum of Art, Lithuania. The forthcoming exhibition of sketchbooks at the Royal Overseas League opens 29 March to 31 May 2001. His works-on-paper are included in the collections of the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Royal Mint. Jacqueline Pennell I have been working with video and photography for some time, extracting figures from the image to leave only shadows. The passage of people across the architectural square suggested an image of marks or traces; shadows representing their past movements and perhaps the future of other pathways
In Pennell's work, reflections, shadows, light, architectural space and the figure are used as devices to explore a sense of another space existing within our own physical space. The shadow, often depicted as symbolizing the soul, also represents proof of one's existence, as matter that blocks out light. Pennell is based in London and is a lecturer at Goldsmiths College. She completed her MA at Chelsea College of Art and Design in 1993 and has exhibited widely in the UK. Solo exhibitions include Solo, Shillam + Smith 3, 1997, and Mirror Mirror, Whitechapel Open with Rear Window, 1996. Forthcoming exhibitions include Dopplarity, Bank Underground Station, 16 August to 16 September 2000.
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For The Economist foyer, Ryan exhibits some of the sketchbooks that he
has produced over the last eighteen years. He has produced large
re-worked drawings on tissue paper using these sketches as a framework
and two site-specific works based on the buildings surrounding The
Economist.
For this exhibition, Pennell has transposed the shadows of three
teenage girls from a Venetian forecourt into the predominantly
'masculine' Economist plaza. The young women were photographed by
Pennell during the previous summer, the time of day making their
shadows a captivating presence. The photographs provided images from
which the sculptures have now emerged. Made from cast rubber, the flat
and translucent sculptures have been enlarged to exaggerate the
shadows' presence.