Coady Brown - Electric Bloom

About

In this series, scenes take place in domestic interiors revealing how at the core of Coady’s work is a question of vulnerability, as well as of self-presentation in both public and private spaces. The artist is interested in how these protected environments allow an unabashed intimacy and level of authority over one’s image – which contrasts the way the female body has been represented in art history for centuries. Through these intimate spaces inhabited by tightly framed figures, Coady is playing with ideas of expression, strength and instability.

A floral motif is subtly present throughout her paintings, be it on a pair of lace underwear, a table runner, her characters’ clothing, a rug and in painted bouquets. Coady takes inspiration from flowers and what they represent as they can acquire significant meanings depending on the circumstances and can at once refer to romance, loss and mourning, or life and death. This show is focused around the idea of blooming and flourishing while at the most heightened state – when flowers, but also Coady’s figures, are caught in the apex of a moment. However, soon after this peak, the declining phase begins. The first few petals have fallen, there is a faint wilting and the moment is lost. This new body of work examines the thin line between these stages of blooming and decline. Coady’s images are a commentary on the vulnerability of these tender moments, albeit with her florals or the connections between her figures.

Coady’s florals and feminine, yet androgenous, figures are set in a world of electric colours as the title of the exhibition suggests. Her use of colour, hyper-saturated and oftentimes flat, heightens the atmosphere of her scenes as it sets the mood and tone. Concentrated and potent, colour acts as a signal, similar to vibrant flowers in nature. Stimulating to the senses, these paintings pair the natural and the artificial to create a feverish contrast. Carefully painted details, such as patterned textiles, blue toenails, sparkling eyes and starry backgrounds, create a sense of serenity mixed with tension and rawness.