Art Exhibition - Vestige - Coates & Scarry

Coates & Scarry are pleased to announce their first show of 2015 at 8 Duke Street St James.

Vestige will include works by artists whose practice incorporates references to historical imagery or objects. In each, the Vestige is referred to by the artist in a unique way to create visually arresting works. The exhibition will include new works by Lisa Wright, Emma Vidal, Penny Byrne, Aaron Smith and Henry Hussey.

Lisa Wright’s intimate understanding of, and emotional connection to, historical painting, together with her skill of drawing underpinning everything she does, has seen the artist garner numerous accolades. Awards include the Hunting Art Prize, the National Open Art Prize and, most recently, the 2013 Threadneedle Prize.

Australian artist Penny Byrne uses materials such as vintage porcelain figurines and other found objects to create artworks which present the viewer with a powerful political message. These manipulated, mutilated figurines and bronzes explore issues concerning the environment, pop culture and global politics. Byrne has recently been commissioned by Berengo Studios to create a Coat of Arms for the Venice Biennale.

Emma Vidal’s bold charcoal drawings represent a disintegrating world where humanity has gone awry, where figures disappear in crowded compositions, creating a sinister effect of the intimidation of the unknown.The common place is gone and the mystical is revealed. The artist was included in ING Discerning Eye 2014.

Aaron Smith collects vintage photographs of Edwardian and Victorian men. These bearded distinguished men represent a masculine ideal but beneath the stoic poses belies a certain vulnerability. Aaron translates these small vintage photographs into monumental, expressionist portraits in an attempt to ruminate on these contradictions. Drawing parallels between the rituals of initiation found in western culture and those practiced in tribal cultures he paints these gentlemen with colours inspired by Birds of Paradise and the extravagantly decorated Huli Wigmen of Papua New Guinea.

One of Bloomberg’s New Contemporaries in 2014, young British artist Henry Hussey’s work stems from a myriad of inspirations. From sketches of objects at the Ashmolean or the Pitt Rivers, to working with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s actors to model and capture the emotion he wants to communicate in embroidery and dyes, Hussey is a worthy heir.

Vestige - Open from Monday 9 February 2015 until Saturday 21 February 2015, 1100 until 1900 everyday, at Gallery 8, 8 Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BN.

Press please contact Abigail Stuart-Menteth, Damson PR, t: +44 78 555 26 550 or 078 555 26 550 or e: [email protected]

Coates and Scarry curate and exhibit internationally groundbreaking shows. Recent exhibitions include Art from the New World at Bristol City Museum in 2010, Unnatural-Natural History at the Royal West of England Academy, shows in Hong Kong including Trailblazers and Honestly Dishonest (during Basel HK). A fixture on the international art fair circuit in London, New York, Hong Kong and Munich, since 2014 they have been exhibiting regularly at Gallery 8 in London.