Invisible Subjects by Cadogan Contemporary
The exhibition explores the idea of paintings as objects, presenting three distinct approaches to abstract painting. The artists are unified via a shared emphasis on taking their painting into the third dimension, beyond color and composition into structural and physical relationships.
An interest in tactility and surface is also evident throughout the exhibition, from Kim Bartelt’s embedded layers of colored paper to LRNCE’s oil on embroidered, hand-woven fabric, and the contrasting textures of Tycjan Knut’s acrylic paint and marble dust on canvas and hand-constructed wooden frames.
Cover image by Marina Denisova for Numeroventi
Photo by Marina Denisova for Numeroventi
Photo by Marina Denisova for Numeroventi
Tycjan Knut’s overlapping layers of muted color, have an effect that verges on optical illusion. By building up intersecting layers, he creates subtle tonal differences that trick the eye into perceiving new depths of these already highly structural objects. Knut is meticulous in the development of every physical element of the painting. This includes adding specific types of dust to texture small areas within the work and sourcing particular types of wood, from which he hand builds and finishes the frames as an equally important aspect of the overall construction.
Photo by Marina Denisova for Numeroventi
Photo by Marina Denisova for Numeroventi
Kim Bartelt trained in painting yet abandoned the medium in favor of using found paper in her compositions. Bartelt painstakingly pastes layers of translucent paper that she has collected over many years. The idiosyncrasies of each piece of tissue - creases, folds, a raw edge here or there - offers new inspiration and, to a degree, predetermines the outcome of the final piece, removing an element of control from the artist. These reused fragments allude to their past applications, bringing residual backstories together into a new unified whole and belying the seemingly solid minimalism of the overall composition.
In the first-ever gallery presentation of her paintings and ceramics, LRNCE brings the familiar sensibility of her renowned design brand that has earned her a name amongst leading fashion, interiors, and product designers.
Her naive, indeterminate lines are balanced by an effortlessly refined sense for composition. Painted in oil and embroidered with wool onto organic cotton and burlap canvas, the artist’s paintings were the genesis of her work in ceramics and design items. For LRNCE, the boundaries are almost indistinguishable, a painting may inspire the creation of a domestic object and so on, leading to an endless lineage of creativee potential. All of which created to be lived with and appreciated increasingly more each day. x
The exhibition takes its title from the almost imperceptible details and structural elements in the works, which reveal their true nature gradually through attention and contemplation. Each artist addresses this passing of time, offering layers of aesthetic appreciation from the immediate to revelatory.
Throughout 2020 Cadogan Contemporary is celebrating a remarkable 40-year history as one of London’s longest-standing Contemporary art galleries. Invisible Subjects is part of a year-long exhibition program that reflects on the gallery history as well as looking forward to previously unshown artists and new collaborations.
About Cadogan Contemporary
Cadogan Contemporary is an independent family-run art gallery based in South Kensington, London. Founded by Christopher Burness in 1980, for forty years, the gallery has worked closely with generations of collectors and represents artists including EliseAnsel, Janette Kerr, Sam Lock, Sargy Mann, and DeborahTarr. Throughout 2020 Cadogan Contemporary celebrates its 40th anniversary. A group exhibition in May will reflect on this remarkable history as well as looking forward to new collaborations.
Images courtesy of Cadogan Contemporary & Numeroventi
Invisible Subjects
2nd - 20th March 2020
Cadogan Contemporary
87 Old Brompton Road, London, SW7 3LD
