Rook & Raven present
INFERO
23|04|2015 - 10|06|2015
PV April 22 nd 2015
6:30 - 8:30pm
The Lloyds Club, 42 Crutched Friars, London EC3N 2AP
LUCIA VERA, 2 Sculptures 2014 detail.
TAHNEE LONSDALE, Amphi I 2015, acrylic on canvas, 160cm x 170cm
Camilla Emson | Lucy Farley | Corinne Felgate
Vanessa Jackson | Manuel Larralde | Tahnee Lonsdale
Dale Marshall | Laurence O wen | Lucia Vera
In collaboration with The Lloyds Club, Rook & Raven is pleased to announce the group show Infero. The
exhibition examines the importance of painting within the prevailing contemporary art scene; drawing together
the work of nine international artists. Predominantly working within the medium of paint, there is a sense of
abstraction, which appears in various manifestations constantly throughout these selected works. These artists
are primarily concerned with the use of shape, colour and composition as well as sequences and the
relationship between such properties.
Tahnee Lonsdale (b.1982) is a painter of vibrant abstractions, using colour and intuitive paint application to
explore notions of faith and religion, juxtaposed against more philosophical ideas of existence and being. Her
compositions are inspired as much by her surrounding as her personal beliefs.
Lonsdale completed her Foundation and BA at Byam Shaw school of art in 2007. Her work has been exhibited
in London and LA, and is part of collections in Singpore, Brazil, Taiwan, London and the US. Tahnee has been
shortlisted for a number of awards, making the final for 100 Painters of Tomorrow and shortlisted for The
Dazed and Confused Emerging Artist Award at Whitechapel gallery.
British artist Laurence O wen (b.1984) is currently studying at the Royal Academy School, having previously
studied at Falmouth School of Art. He has developed his practice in painting and into ceramics – or, as he
refers to them, three-dimensional paintings. He has exhibited in London (including the Serpentine Gallery),
New York, Los Angeles and Mexico his work can be found in numerous public and private collections.
Camilla Emson’s (b.1987) appropriation of unfamiliar tools and multidisciplinary practice calls forward her
body as an intuitive storyteller. Her new series Colour Maps is a continuation of her Fibrosis series, where
Rook & Raven - 7 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1HN | +44 (0) 20 7323 0805 | [email protected] | www.rookandraven.co.uk
she has explored sewing using an needle she found on residency in India. New Experiential Theory that relates
to early life experiences inspires her work. It describes how memories are ‘woven into your body, like imprints
in your nervous system.’ However the plastic nature of the nervous system allows for the development of new
pathways throughout life. Colour Maps clearly depicts Emson’s unique process of creating new maps. She pulls,
loops, knots and dangles loose threads as if she were practicing a strange surgery. Her act of reparation is in
response to the careless bleach splatters that have burnt and weakened the fabric of the linen and erased its
original brightness. This way she feels she can access and re-configure history.
Argentinian artist, Manuel Larralde (b.1982) focuses on the relationship between colour and shape within
his monochromatic paintings, intertwining hard and soft brushstrokes, playing with light and shade to create a
reality ‘which is almost fantasy’. His works come to life, as if the brushstrokes, colours and light were already
existent, arising from the unconscious.
Recently graduating with an MA from City & Guild. following a BA at the Slade School of Art, recent
exhibitions include ArteBA12, Central de Proyectos, Barrio Joven in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a solo show
at Galeria Central de Proyectos ‘El Antidoto del Bosque’ in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Lucy Farley was born in1982 and studied at St. Martins, and MA in printmaking from the Royal College of art
in 2009. She recently completed a two-year Fellowship at the Royal Academy. Painting, drawing and
printmaking are all part part of her practice. She is primarily concerned in depicting places that she has a
personnel connection with or a history that inspires her. Fragments of memory, past sensations, and
experiences, that are associated with a particular urban or natural landscape, from the basis of her work.
Drawn to the mathematical and philosophical elements of geometry, Vanessa Jackson (b. 1953) found that
properties of sequences, shape, and space gave her an ability to construct. Without referencing the appearance
of the world, with no overt desire to express herself in her works; instead, offering a structure in which she
could manifest experience, and create a space for viewers to dwell, physically and mentally, within the bounds
of the canvas. Jackson has lived and worked in London since 1971, studying at St. Martin's School of Art (BA)
and Royal College of Art (MA). Through her career as an artist, Jackson has been a leading tutor of Fine Art in
London, having previously taught at the Royal Academy Schools, the Royal College of Art, and Winchester
School of Art where she was made Head of Painting. Her work has been widely exhibited both in the UK and
internationally, including exhibitions in London, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York, and
in public collections, including J. Paul Getty Museum, USA.
Dale Marshall (b.1974) is a contemporary painter who lives and works in the Welsh countryside, at the
foothills of Snowdonia National Park. Dale was sectioned in 1999 in one of Britain’s oldest asylums whilst
plagued with psychotic episodes and clinical depression. He attributes his mental health to his once volatile
relationship with graffiti and drug abuse, forging a profound effect on his later works, and eventual move into
fine art where he now fully embraces the role as a modern day, tortured master. Dale has had numerous solo
exhibitions in London and the USA as well as outside walls around the world. His works are in both private
and public collections worldwide.
Venzeluan painter Lucia Vera was born in 1986 and is based in New York and London, having studied at
Cooper Union and completed a Turps Banana Residency in 2012. Through Lucia’s paintings and drawings she
comments on the role and position of woman within Venezuelan society. Vera references idealised images of
women from beer calendars as well as exploring women’s embrace of cosmetic enhancement in pursuit of an
aesthetic ideal. Her still lifes question the passive consumption of the female body whilst drawing parallels with
the tradition of goddess worship within contemporary and ancient Venezuelan culture.
Rook & Raven - 7 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1HN | +44 (0) 20 7323 0805 | [email protected] | www.rookandraven.co.uk