Caroline Walker's Picks
"The Northern Renaissance: Dürer to Holbein"
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London
11/2/2012 - 4/14/2013
All the work in this show is both historically fascinating as social commentary of the massive cultural shifts happening in Europe at the time, but also as a display of technical virtuosity. I particularly loved Holbein’s portraits which are so alive it’s difficult to conceive that they were painted 500 years ago. I was also drawn to the rich iconography and symbolism of Dürer’s pictorially dense engravings.
"Verne Dawson: Apalachicola To Zirconia"
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
3/16 - 4/20/13
I liked the larger paintings which present various tableaus combining an imagined historical past, a personal present and a strange vision of a possible future. The otherworldly space of these paintings is reinforced by Dawson’s use of paint. Areas slip in and out of focus while pictorial depth is inverted to great effect, particularly in ‘Sea Grove’ and ‘Nude Beside the River’ reminding me of what a wonderful medium painting is for exploring the space of imagination.
"Richard T. Walker: In Defiance Of Being Here"
Carroll/Fletcher Gallery, London
3/1 - 4/13/13
I was entranced by these beautifully shot videos, which show the artist’s, at times, comic but heartfelt attempts at an engagement or conversation with nature. There’s one particular scene in ‘outside of all things’ where the artist cuts a rather pathetic figure: hunched over his Casio keyboard while switching a neon sculpture of the skyline off and on with peddles, in front of a mountain range lit by the setting sun. A charming take on the Romantic sublime.
Scottish artist Caroline Walker studied at Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art, and is now based in London. She has had solo exhibitions in London, Bucharest, New York and most recently at ProjectB, Milan. Group exhibitions include ‘Some Domestic Incidents’ at Prague Biennale 5 and MAC, Birmingham (2011) and Nightfall: New Tendencies in Figurative Painting currently at Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague. Her work is held in private and public collections including Franks-Suss, Saatchi, and Jimenez-Colon. She is now working towards her first solo public institution exhibition at Pitzhanger Manor, London this summer.