I Woz Ere
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Conventry
As we are all aware, Kerryanne Hassent's work provides a memory of a place that holds extreme significance to her. The same essence is captured in George Shaw's paintings; depicting the mundane surroundings of his challenging upbringing. Upon first viewing Kerryanne's photographic wall piece, I was reminded of George Shaw's haunting photorealistic paintings. The subject of both Shaw's paintings and Kerryanne's photographs are all too familiar, yet I find myself feeling like an outsider upon contemplating the scenes, like I am observing a memory only the artist intends to understand.
"Shaw is a painter whose subject matter is the council estate in Coventry where he grew up – and often the mundane everyday objects within it. He paints exclusively in the Humbrol enamel paint used by young model-makers, which again gives his work a unique, instantly recognisable quality.
This unconventional choice could be understood on many levels; it gives the work a child-like, humble quality while on the other hand could be read as a defiant rejection of the history of art and, in particular, oil painting.
There is also a haunting quality to the work and much of it suggests a passage of time and even hints at the inevitability of death. Shaw told me while looking around the show that he identifies with writers more than artists, which makes a lot of sense; for me, his paintings constitute fragments or even pages in a personal and very moving memoir."
When I visited this exhibition last February, I noted that, running right along the edges of the room, there was a cordon which sectioned off the paintings thereby restricting how close the viewers could get . This is something that might be interesting to consider with Kerryanne's work. I feel that her work has been least discussed; I would also argue that the piece is one of the most fragile pieces within our exhibition. Would it add an extra dimension to the work if we used a cordon to control how close the viewers can get to the work? After understanding the meaning behind Kerryanne's work, (even though this may not be her intention), I feel intrusive and invasive when looking at the work; is this something we want to provoke from our viewers?
What does everyone else think about segregating Kerryanne's work? Will this change the dynamic of her work too drastically?
-Alice O'Rourke
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