Exhibition
Bloc Billboard: Helen de Main
17 Jul 2015 – 16 Aug 2015
Event times
4/7 - publicly sited
Cost of entry
Free
Address
- 71 Eyre Lane
- Sheffield
- S1 4RB
- United Kingdom
Thrive, Not Just Survive is a new print work that brings together images and graphics as part of an ongoing exploration of public representations of women. For the commission, de Main has composed a collection of imagery across the length of the billboard.
About
Brightly coloured images of women are printed in halftone dots; the traditional process for reproducing photographic images used in printing newspapers and billboards. These are combined with repeating graphic motifs in fleshy tones, creating patterns that reference wallpaper and surface pattern design. The work seeks to present everyday images of women, engaged in a range of activities, in a manner often absent from public space.
De Main works in sculpture and printmaking, recently combining the two mediums within large-scale installations. In much of her printed work appropriated texts and images are drawn from the media, characterizing an underlying interest in media representation that runs through her work.
Thrive, Not Just Survive is accompanied by a new text from art historian, Alice Andrews.
Helen de Main is based in Glasgow where she graduated with a Master’s in Fine Art from Glasgow School of Art in 2008. Before that she studied Fine Art Sculpture at Sheffield Hallam University (1999 – 2002). Her work has been shown widely in the UK and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Ripples on the Pond, Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow, Concrete Ribs, Govanhill Baths, Glasgow (both 2015) and 21 Revolutions, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2013).
