Exhibition

Rounded With A Sleep - A solo show by Caroline Burraway

17 Oct 2008 – 16 Nov 2008

Event times

12 - 6pm

Cost of entry

Free

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Signal Gallery

London, United Kingdom

Address

Travel Information

  • Old Street, Liverpool Street, Moorgate
  • Old Street, Liverpool Street, Moorgate
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Rounded with a Sleep - Powerful, huge and dark drawings.

About

Caroline Burraways' harrowing and beautiful large-scale drawings of the very old and dying certainly make a powerful impression on the unprepared viewer. These are images of the ‘unseeable' and the forgotten. What makes them even more remarkable is that on the contemporary art scene it seems to be taboo even to think of depicting this type of subject matter. Almost as forbidden for our youth dominated culture, as the depiction of overtly sexual themes was to the Victorians. The subject of old age and dying has driven Caroline for many years and it has not been an easy route for her to follow. As a student, firstly at Camberwell and then at Central St Martins' college where she studied for an MA, there were objections to her video work for ethical reasons. As a result Caroline decided to produce this series of drawings, inspired by the videos, to present her vision of the cruelty and isolation of old age, in an alternative medium. The fact is that these are powerfully emotive works that can provoke a violently subjective reaction in some viewers - causing them to reject the works as too unsettling. For others they are profoundly beautiful and seeing them is a moving experience. As the artist says, she invites the viewer ‘to look through a peephole into a private room, a life.' By looking into this dark place the artist anticipates a reaction of ‘curiosity, a sense of voyeurism and discomfort'. Can we identify with these stark images without flinching? It's as if the artist is challenging to us to accept the fact of our own mortality. She is daring us to see a future for ourselves in which we are old and near death. In this future there is sadness, loneliness and pain. There is a distinct absence of reassurance. Since completing her MA in 2006 Caroline has shown her work both in Amsterdam and London to great acclaim. She has recently received academic funding to continue her pioneering work in studying and depicting people at the end of their lives. Her show at Signal Gallery will be her first solo show in London.

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