Lesley Anne Price and Diane McLean: A Question of Presence

The aesthetic of nostalgia at Artspace gallery - 3rd February 2010

Artspace's first exhibition for 2010, a Question of Presence, opens on the 3rd February at 18h00. A two man show by Lesley Anne Price and Diane Mclean,

These two artists, working in distinctly different media and styles present a common aesthetic- that of nostalgia. According to Canadian academic Linda Hutcheon, "Nostalgic distancing sanitizes as it selects, making the past feel complete, stable, coherent, safe from 'the unexpected and the untoward, from accident or betrayal' in other words, making it so very unlike the present. The aesthetics of nostalgia might, therefore, be less a matter of simple memory than of complex projection."

These works invite not an intellectual response from the viewer, but a more visceral reaction that at once summons associations from the viewers own experience.

Lesley Anne Price, an encaustic and photographic artist of South African origin, based in America presents a body of work of encaustics on wood using as its point of departure the aged negatives of a photographer from the 19th Century.

She says: "As I opened some of the wooden boxes, some of the yellowing paper from the handmade folders that held the negatives disintegrated in my hands. Other folders are made of cardboard. All are marked with writing and some with red labels. Many negatives are stored in boxes with the name "Kodak" on the top of the boxes. Some are more interesting than others. Moisture and time has affected many of the images. The emulsion on edges of the negatives have fused together causing a multitude of patterns on the glass.

It became clear to me: I found the works of a photographer, whose name I might never know, from 1899. This collection of photographs is a time capsule. I felt a tremendous responsibility towards the photographer, to represent the imagery they captured with integrity. The children in the photographs are particularly interesting. Their clothes, toys and the way they are dressed are truly from a forgotten era and yet it was a time of flux, a time of many important changes, the discovery of electricity and telephones.

The process of turning these photographs into a joint artwork has been intricate and wonderful, using a wax layering process. Layering has meaning in both encaustics methodology and in the conceptual aspects of time and history. Beyond the images are underlying narratives. I reduced light and detail in parts through layering in the wax process. I added subtle yet dark silhouettes in places, changing the mood and mystery of the images and adding depth and a personal comment of my own. At times I am quite brutal in the obliteration of shapes that interfere with the ultimate clarity of the message."

Diane McLean presents a body of paintings ofoil on board which depict everyday enamel objects from era's gone by. More than merely utilitarian pieces, these objects talk volumes about the history and present realities of South African's.

Says McLean: In this body of work my preoccupation has been the elevation of commonplace utilitarian objects to the status of art through the process of painting. I find it interesting that these enamel objects, which were once regarded as mere vessels for water or food, and were relegated to the kitchen or bathroom, are now highly collectible as symbols of a forgotten past. Most of us remember these objects in daily use in our grandparents' homes, especially those of us who come from farming stock and whose families did not have access to plumbing and other amenities taken for granted in today's world.

What interests me most about these objects, is the very reason why they have been discarded in the first place. The evidence of wear and tear, the scratches, chips, stains and rust marks not only are proof of their long history of use, but they also provide an interesting surface texture which individualises each item, much as a human face ages and takes on the character of the person inhabiting it.

I see each new painting as a portrait of an individual object. Like a painter may use the same model over and over again in his work, I can paint the same bowl several times from different angles, thus revealing different aspects of the surface each time."

The exhibition opens at Artspace, 1 Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, at 18h00 on the 3 February

Please join us at the opening for a glass of wine and to meet the artist. The exhibition will be opened by artist Susan Woolf.

For more information and images contact

Taryn Cohn
Media Liaison for Artspace Gallery
083 6715139
taryncohn@artsourcesouthafrica.co.za