In Absentia

About

In Absentia  

                        ‘Making a painting is so hard, it makes you crazy’ 

                                               Amy Sillman Faux Pas (2020) Amy Sillman

Stepping out of our studios and into the flickering light of the virtual eye – we present the ones we like best – selected from the paintings we made during our Turps Correspondence Course 19-20

We had planned a show of works in Peckham to mark the completion of our year.  The exhibition venue had ample space to accommodate works by the 60 painters from different parts of the world, then Covid took hold scuppered all real world plans and changed peoples lives – yet the Correspondence Course flourished because our platform of communication was already established. 

We signed up as Turps students to be part of a community, to discuss all things painting, and read and digest and progress from our mentor’s reviews. So, when we realised a physical show was impossible (at least for the time being) we decided to resolve unfinished business with an online exhibition, however this In Absentia exhibition is less of a closure and more of a coming out into this changed world’s gaze, it is also importantly a continuation of the painting community we joined and have been separated from. 

An online exhibition requires a virtual platform-two of our Turps cohorts (Matt Davis and Fred Thackery-Vincent) built a virtual space potentially capable of interactions and events. Ideas began to percolate around curation, collaboration and online conversation. 

All these will happen but first let’s have our end of year show In Absentia.