NICOLA TYSON – A TENDENCY TO FLOCK
2017-06-05Adopting an intuitive approach, Tyson begins by drawing. She works quickly to “stay ahead of rational decision making”, not knowing what will appear but trusting that the “discovered” images will resonate with a complex range of meanings and associations. Selected sketches are then worked up into paintings through a slower, more deliberate process. Tyson’s expressive paint application is nevertheless characterised by a ‘one-chance only’ approach – that of using a dry brush to produce a sense of immediacy and dynamism of movement, in addition to her chromatically-heightened pallet of unlikely colour combinations, alternately perverse and beautiful.
Tyson draws influence from artists such as Bellmer, Bacon, Bourgeois and sources beyond, reformulating these precursors in the pursuit of an independent and idiosyncratic visual language. Her approach to her medium, and to the genre of figuration, has been compared with that of the pioneering Austrian painter, Maria Lassnig (1919-2014), who coined the terms Körpergefühl (body sensation) and Körperbewusstsein (body awareness) to describe her own approach. These twin concepts aptly reflect the combination of physicality and introspection which informs Tyson’s work. Her ambivalence about titling her works (often preferring numbers or minimal annotations) reflects her reluctance to guide the viewer towards any specific reading. She has stated: “for me, a successful drawing or painting is one that I don’t recognise… that surprises me”. Accordingly, the title of the exhibition — A Tendency to Flock — references nothing specific, save an urge to gather together. Like the paintings, the title elicits a gentle yet absurd humour.
Exhibition runs from June 22nd through August 19th, 2017
Sadie Coles
1 Davies Street
W1K 3DB
London
