Exhibition 29th Aug – 16th Sept Tuesday – Saturday 9.30-4pm (Except Friday afternoon)
Preview night – Wednesday 30th August 6-9pm. All art lovers welcome.
[rez-uh–loo-shuh n]
Philip Barnes ARCA
I am a Yorkshireman, brought up in and around the mining villages of South Yorkshiren now living in North Devon. After studying a science degree, I subsequently joined British Coal and worked in the coal mining industry for 8 years. As the mines closed, I left and joined an engineering company as Operations Director. After 7 years and in my late 30’s, I decided to leave behind my science and engineering and went to study art.
After a Foundation course in Halifax and a Fine Art Degree in Leeds, I completed my MA in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art in 2002. I had exhibited conceptual works in group and solo shows in the UK and overseas but I became involved in many ventures outside art. When I returned to art in 2014, I began to paint again and this is now my dominant media. In this exhibition I will be showing around 25 paintings, some texts and some conceptual pieces which play with the multiple meanings of [rez-uh–loo-shuh n]. This show has developed from his 2015 show ‘An unconscious mind’.
Freud divided the mind into the conscious mind (ego) and the unconscious mind (id & super ego). Freud describes how we experience this unconscious mind through: dreams, slips of the tongue (Freudian slips), jokes, intuition and enigmatic thoughts which burst upon us unbidden and uncontrollably. The unconscious can be immensely creative or powerfully destructive, a source of guidance as well as subversion, and it can be awe inspiring or very disturbing. Philip’s process has developed in response to his unconscious mind.
Philip does very little initial planning other than to choose a head or a figure as a start point. As Philip paints, he experiences enigmatic thoughts and Freudian slips occur, sometimes these might be in response to what he has read or seen or just the way he is feeling at the time. Through painting, he tries to make these visible to himself. Sometimes a resolution readily appears and in other cases it takes a long time before the story of the painting becomes clearer to him. Philip wants the viewer to bring their own unconscious mind to the work and for them to resolve the story as they see it. There is no one universal interpretation and Philip loves to hear what the viewer thinks.
The works shown are eclectic, vibrant and dynamic and can be enjoyed visually and mentally. Philip’s work plays with the idea of resolution [rez-uh–loo-shuh n], and what is being resolved.
Philip will be on hand each day to respond to viewers but only if invited to do so.
There are no upcoming dates for this event.