John Moores 25
This exhibition is being held at the Walker Art Gallery, 20 September 2008 - 9 January 2009
Oil on canvas, 102 x 140 cm, 2007
I arrive at the imagery in my paintings by starting them pretty chaotically. I enjoy
gradually squeezing out and uncovering forms and textures suggested in quite
random paint marks, and then refining or disturbing these with each new layer.
There is, I think, quite a bit of unpleasantness in my paintings. It's this feeling that
determines what shapes I pull out of the paint. It lurks beneath the surface in the
paintings, and through the loving execution of this surface, it finds itself bubbling up,
pushing its way out through abject bulges and hollows.
In the end, I want the paintings to remain uncertain. They depict something that you
want to place somewhere, but owing to their inherently abstract nature you are
frustrated in doing so.
Clare Chapman was born in Chertsey in 1974. She
studied at Kingston University London 1992-93, Falmouth College of Arts
1993-96 and The Slade School of Fine Art London 1999-2001. Group
exhibitions include 'Sufficient Forms' East 73rd Gallery London 2001, 'Rising
to the Surface' Gallery Westland Place London 2001, 'Outside Gets Inside'
James Hockey Gallery West Surrey Institute of Art & Design 2002, 'Art
Futures' (Contemporary Art Society) London 2003, 'What Happened
Next?' Sarah Myerscough Fine Art London 2003 and 'Dolores' Sartorial
Contemporary Art London 2004. She gained the Gordon Luton Prize
(Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers) 2001 and the British School at
Athens' Prince of Wales Bursary 2004.