Pilar Corrias is delighted to present an exhibition of new work by Mary Ramsden.
Mary Ramsden’s practice is unapologetically painterly. Strategically refusing referential
readings, she makes painted objects whose compositional unity belies the complexity
of their making. In Ramsden’s work even the most subtle adjustment is generative.
Each shift in palette, variation in scale, or nuance of mark effects an incremental
development within a broader scheme of experimentation.
On the occasion of her first solo exhibition in London, Ramsden has created a series
of works simply presented in interrelated groupings. Implicit in this body of work is a
tension between the conflicting actions of ‘doing’ and ‘undoing.’ The exhibition oscillates
between quieter, meditative works created predominately through the reversal or canceling
of previous marks, and bolder pieces in which vividly hued asymmetrical forms actively
dominate the surface. This antagonistic give and take extends to the method of their
making. Working flat against the studio floor, from a position of authority and control,
Ramsden negotiates the pictorial plane as a zone of impact and reaction, working with
resistance until the point at which the dynamic conflicts of making are calmly resolved.
A recurring theme in Ramsden’s work is a preoccupation with the edge: a concern that
is realized formally and pursued methodologically. What is at stake in these works,
sometimes ambiguously titled otherwise left unnamed, is a pushing to the limits. Using
the canvas as a testing ground they question how far might the mark go?
Born in Yorkshire in 1984, Mary Ramsden lives and works in London. A final year graduate
student at the Royal Academy of Arts she received a BA in Fine Art from Edinburgh
College of Art. Forthcoming exhibitions include Making Familiar Temple Bar Gallery,
Dublin (2012) and Marcelle Joseph Projects (2012). Past exhibitions included Group show,
Pilar Corrias Gallery (2011); Purity is a Myth, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London (2010); The
Moving Gallery, Newcastle (2010); Five Hundred Dollars (2009); New Contemporaries,
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2009).
For further information please contact Lara Asole:
+44 (0)207 323 7000 or [email protected]
