CCA Galleries Internarional
presents
Dan Baldwin, Lucy Farley and Joe Webb:
Young British artists at CCA International
April 2016
CCA Galleries International is delighted to exhibit work by three young British artists: Lucy Farley, Dan Baldwin and Joe Webb in our ground floor exhibition space.
DAN BALDWIN
Faith Less, 2013
Dan Baldwin (1972-) creates a unique and immediately recognisable vision in his silkscreen prints. His work is at once both abstract and figurative, reflecting both reality and the world of imagination. Baldwin's subject matter is the interior of his own mind, from rumination on love, memory or philosophical issues, to an airing of opinion on politics and/or current affairs. The work is multi-layered, both physically (Baldwin can use glazes, diamond dust, collage and 3D media on top of his silkscreen surface) and in terms of meaning.
The motifs with which he plays often recur- skeletons, swallows, crucifixes, children’s story book illustrations, spiders, robins, trees, knives, flowers, cartoon figures- and are often contradictory, creating an uncomfortable and sometimes sinister paradox. Each motif has a meaning (swallows generally signify innocence for example), although the meanings can vary slightly from print to print depending on the overall ethos of the piece. Symbolism is key to Baldwin's oeuvre- both his own interpretation and the personal response of each viewer. These symbols of death, life and love reflect Baldwin's preoccupation with the 'big questions' of human existence.
Born in Manchester, Baldwin studied at Eastbourne College of Art and Design and then Kent Institute of Art and Design. He lives and works in West Sussex. Baldwin's work is collected and exhibited nationally and internationally.
LUCY FARLEY
To The Lighthouse, Ile de Re, 2013
Lucy Farley (1982-) lives and works in London. She studied at Central St. Martins graduating in 2005, and has an MA in printmaking from the Royal College of Art (2009), she recently completed a two-year Fellowship at the Royal Academy. Exhibitions in London have included the ‘Originals’ Printmaking show at the Mall Galleries in London, as well as The Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
“Painting, drawing and printmaking are all part of my practice. I am interested in depicting places that I have a personal connection with or a history that inspires me. My work aims to build up a record of time, spirit of place and changing feelings which occur through travel, my existence in the city and a connection with nature and the landscape. The fragments of memory, past sensations and experiences, that are associated with a particular urban or natural landscape, form the basis of my work.'
JOE WEBB
Antares & Love IV, 2013
Joe Webb (1976-) uses vintage magazines and printed ephemera that he has collected to create hand-made low fi collages, no computer trickery in sight. Webb re-invents the imagery taken from his collection of printed materials to create simple and elegant, yet surreal, images that explore love and longing. His work is inspired by the collage work of Peter Blake amongst others. To create original editions Webb has stayed true to the texture and feeling of collage by using real collaged elements in the silkscreens as well as embossing and glazing.
Webb's work has become on online sensation with tens of thousands of people sharing his images on the internet. As well as going viral in the virtual world, ’Antares and Love II' has been displayed in the Saatchi Gallery, London.
Webb’s collages explore a range of ideas from the political to surreal, each piece carries a visual message to be deciphered by the viewer. The artist often displaces the central figure or object into an unusual setting, holding a mirror up to conflicting cultures and experiences. In other collages he removes the central characters altogether, leaving an empty space which reveals alternative realties in the layers underneath.