ME, YOU or the OTHER PERSON

About

GV Art's current exhibition Me, You or the Other Person meditates on the representation of the human body. The concept of the figure is interpreted, dissected and revealed by three contemporary female sculptors. Confronting one's personal and private body is the skin-less self-portrait Female Ecorche by Pascale Pollier. Contemplating the lives of other particular persons, is Nietsche-Hirsch, Eleanor Crook's carving of the 19th Century philosopher, which emphasises and explores notions of anatomy and forensic sculpture. The sculptural processes utilised are varied and elaborate, including casting with wax and glass, intricate wood carving and ensembles of found objects. Further developments within science and technology also inform the work, including considering the role of plastic surgery within western culture, as in Pollier's visceral piece The Day of the Lipids. Casts of swollen, obese stomachs mingle together while simulated blood pumps theatrically around the sculpture. A more invasive and life dependent procedures are considered in Katharine Dowson's installation of glass heads, Silent Stories 2. Cast from masks used for patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck. Uncovering and delving into these inner workings and unfamiliar crevices of our bodies are the point of entry to investigate the work. Each artist has developed their own process of negotiating the use of the body into their own work, by referring to the wealth of pictorial references of the human form that has intrigued and inspired centuries of art making.