STUDIO

Lou Almon, Helen Joseph, Ilana Seati, Jenny Stadler

24^th October 2013 – 18^th November 2013

“Studio” refers to an artist’s work room or a place for training and investigation in the arts. The Italian word “studio” is derived from the Latin “studere”, meaning to study. The French term for studio “atelier”, suggests the home of an alchemist or wizard. The combined concepts of studying and completing an exercise with a sense of creation and imagination, is highly relevant to this diverse exhibition that celebrates the notion of the studio. 

These four artists, colleagues and friends: Jenny Stadler, Helen Joseph, Ilana Seati and Lou Almon take part in regular figure drawing and portrait study studio sessions, coming together to share a model. The vastly different interpretations by each artist of the same subject matter provides a fascinating visual journey for the viewer as the four artists, starting off in the same room, create art with such unique translations into the visual.  

Jenny Stadler is known primarily as a gestural, abstract artist. Her energy is expressed through line and hue, working in a wide range of media and experimenting with the abstract and figurative. She deals with a variety of themes in her paintings.

Helen Joseph is a fine artist known for her figurative drawing and paintings. In this body of work Joseph’s focus is on her perceptive and creative use of colour. Her studies of the model in the studio are worked over with hues that come naturally to her.

Ilana Seati is a contemporary artist who creates powerful semi-abstract works, specifically on paper in this exhibition. The artist explores the concept of truth and fantasy in her works. In particular, she examines the way in which we move across the boundaries of reality and fiction in our lives and how these two concepts play with our minds.

Louise Almon has lived her life as an artist for the past three decades. She produces artworks primarily in the form of multi-layered ink mono-prints and oil paintings. Her subject matter is taken from her immediate surroundings whether it is figures on the street outside her studio or the model she shares with her colleagues. 

The dynamism and experimentation born from the studio sessions has resulted in an exhibition in which very different artworks are linked by a common subject matter, providing interesting insights into the creativity and imagination of each artist featured on the show.