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Nicola Bealing, Capital Crimes in Cornwall 1785–1882, Partially Obscured by Honeysuckle (2015, detail), ink & oil on linen. Image courtesy of the artist and Matt’s Gallery, London.
Exhibition
Nicola Bealing
4 Jul 2018
Regular hours
- Wednesday
- 12:00 – 18:00
Address
- Nine Elms
- 6 Charles Clowes Walk
- London
England - SW11 7AN
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- Nine Elms, Vauxhall
- Vauxhall
Matt’s Gallery presents an exhibition of recent works by painter Nicola Bealing. The tenth in an on-going series of 10-day shows at Matt's Gallery.
About
Capital Crime draws its title from Bealing’s largescale work ‘Capital Crimes in Cornwall 1785–1882, Partially Obscured by Honeysuckle’ (2015). The work in ink & oil on linen draws imagery from an original document held in the collection of Helston Museum in Cornwall.
This grim document lists executions carried out in Cornwall and the crimes for which the sentence was issued. Felonies committed range from bestiality and infanticide to the stealing of watches and livestock. In the painting Bealing has skilfully translated these various nefarious deeds into simplified silhouetted scenes of violence, murder and criminality. Spreading over the surface honeysuckle branches partially obscure our views of the activity below.
Key themes in Bealing’s practice emerge from the addition of this decorative element; the artist sets into play an ambivalent reaction that vaciliates between attraction and recoil. An absorbing, detailed and visually seductive surface belies the darker, disturbing subject matter beneath.
Alongside the larger paintings Bealing also works at small-scale with oils on wood. These small pieces act as tests and experiments while also holding their own as works in the own right.
