Darkling
18 – 28 October
Motorcade/Flashparade,
37 Philip
Street,
Bedminster,
Bristol,
BS3 4EA
Peer Critique
led by Laura Mansfield: Thursday 18 October, 6pm
Preview:
Thursday 18 October, 7pm-late
Exhibition
continues: 19 – 28 October, Thurs-Sunday 12-6pm daily
Darkling, defined in simple terms as ‘in the
dark obscurely’ or ‘enacted in the dark’ alludes to a state of uncertainty
where the outlines of a figure, movement or action become submerged into the
darkness that surrounds them, resulting in inconclusive and fragmentary images
that rest between the seen and the hidden.
As the title for an exhibition of new work
by Lindsey Bull, the phrase reflects the shifting nebulous quality of paint
that surrounds the lone figures of her canvases. The figures, often
masked, hooded or concealed in some form, enact undefined movements;
fragments of performative action that slip into the abstract and undulating
rhythm of her surrounding brush strokes. The exact qualities of the figure and
their movements merge with Bull’s loose and layered use of paint, being both
defined and obscured, embodying the notion of Darkling.
Throughout her practice Bull explores
perceptions of reality and illusion, investigating fragmentary instances where
the real mergers with the fantastical, exploring a history of practices that shift
the everyday into realms of spiritual, ritualistic or psychedelic perception.
Drawing upon a lexicon of imagery from books on witchcraft and cults, to silent
film stills and occult magazines her paintings often depict figures enveloped
by spaces that feel simultaneously familiar and unreal; the known world slips
away as the space surrounding the figure slides into an abstract and undulating
form that serves to reference the figures alternated state of perception.
The series of paintings for Darkling continue
Bull's investigation into occult practices, myth and magic. The notion of
darkling permeates the work, a push and pull effect of becoming and
disappearing as the figures slide in and out of definition, inhabiting a
liminal state of both the seen and the hidden.
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