New Contemporary @ the Art House gallery, London
New Contemporary @ the Art House gallery
Must see paintings
‘HAND STAND’ an exhibition of paintings by Christian Mann
Exhibition on now until Sunday 29th October open every day 11am – 530pm except Monday and Tuesday
At The Art House 140 Lewisham Way New Cross London http://www.lewishamarthouse.co.uk/
Nearest stations – New Cross and New Cross Gate Buses which stop there – 321, 21 , 436 , 171, 172, 136
Presenting Christian Mann – an exciting young painter in London who produces powerfully engaging paintings, each of them born from freakish notes prose and drawings. Christian is 27 years old and has been working in his studio for 5 yeaars . He has been waiting for the right opportunity to unleash his work on the public.
His paintings convey aspects of social issues which are constantly being regergitated by the media, historians, politicians, and yes – artists too. But far from being dated, each painting cries out a sense of ‘happening’. Some paintings contain vortexes of colour which bleed into strange forms . Some look like designed 20th Century propaganda posters – but with a modern twist or tension ‘puppeteered’ by surprising characters acting out poses amidst scenes of chaos. He says – ‘Different cultures will have different understandings about what represents what. Conflicts can derive from misunderstandings of words or symbols and I think a big part of the process behind these works is about helping me to explore the idea that my intentions are not always black or white. The great thing about painting is that you can just let it happen. The problem is when you try to see meaning too much in what you see.’
His work is definately challanging – but what it challanges is constantly being lost and found within a mealstrom of creation.
He says of his working stye ‘I have always felt I have been taking a stand with my work -just by letting it happen. The trouble is I’m never sure what kind of stand I’m making. What I want to convey with each painting is constantly changing – each time I come up with an idea I immediately want to look at it upside down, or back to front, strip it naked, or sometimes avoid it. I push the idea until it has that aura of timeless purpose, so that it cannot be avoided’
You can contact the artist with any questions via email – mailto:smashedplanet@btinternet.com