Saint Petersburg

PRESS RELEASE

Saint Petersburg exhibitions

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May and June 2016

20 May - 9 June, Fossart, 19 Bolshaya Morskaya

7 - 12 June, Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, 38 Bolshaya Morskaya. EXTENDED BY ONE WEEK, NOW CLOSES SATURDAY 18 JUNE

10 - 26 June, Museum of Electrical Transport, Vasilyevskyi Island

14 June - 30 June, Hermitage-Vyborg Exhibition Centre, 1 Ladanova Street, Vyborg

 


It has been two years since the Russian curator, Anna Gelich, invited me to show in Saint Petersburg. Since then  the political and economic climate has changed considerably, but the plans for exhibitions have expanded.

I have been invited to join the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists - one of the oldest artists’ organisations in the world and will be participating in 'The Night of the Museums', 21st May, when Saint Petersburg's museums and galleries are open all night.

The majority of the paintings will be new work with accompanying video about the relationship between mankind and the natural world. Many will be large - 2.2m by 3.5m - and will be displayed fixed to the wall as tapestry. These paintings begin as body prints made in the landscape, a process which I video. I then work on the body prints in the studio, creating images in line with the place of their making.

The shows will be partly retrospective - especially paintings to coincide with the year of English Literature in Saint Petersburg. I will be exhibiting paintings of Bath, including a new painting of Jane Austen’s house. 

I will be driving the exhibitions out in a van from my studio in Bruton, Somerset, crossing the border in Finland. On previous visits to Saint Petersburg I have been fined for walking on the river (in February 1984) and accused of being a spy (last November - which led to a major change in the schedule for these shows). Noticeable on my last visit, however, was the warm welcome of the arts community. I am looking forward to six weeks of exhibiting and painting in Russia’s most creative city.

Curatorial team: Anna Gelich and Julia Spiridonova.