Shimmy

About

Shimmy

An exhibition of paintings by Julie Caves

The Lido Stores, Margate

Thursday 28 April - Sunday 8 May 2022

Private view, Friday 29 April, 6.00-8.00pm

The Lido Stores are pleased to present Shimmy, a solo exhibition of paintings by Margate and London based artist, Julie Caves.

The works displayed in Shimmy fill our gallery with small, gem-like paintings, each dancing with line, colour and light. There is something effortlessly alluring about Julie’s paintings, they are friendly and inviting, yet curious. The application of paint, with a sort of dancing line, is anchored in a natural and playful sense of curiosity about the world at large, while light infuses the paintings with freshness and levity. The painting subject matter seems to operate on the periphery of the familiar every day and the abstract - like an inquisitive side-glance at something unexpected. A delight in being surprised. 

Julie explains her process: 

“When I am out in the world and I see a combination of shapes or colours that I like, I take a photo or make a note or sketch. It is often a close look at a part of something. I then use that as a starting point for a painting. Some people might call them abstract paintings but they are paintings of things, they are just ambiguous, uncertain things. I want the viewer to recognise that there is 'something' there in the painting but not be sure what it is.”

There is a freedom in Julie’s paintings that makes them truly joyful. We, the viewer, are invited to ‘join in the game’ and so participate in their completion. We’re encouraged to find subtle and familiar nuances or inflexions in the painting that can relate to our own personal experiences, memories or impressions. In this way the cycle is complete, Julie’s eye, ever looking for a moment to capture, renders that moment into something soluble and universal which we, the viewer, can each uniquely restore to a fixed personal moment. 

The exhibition title, Shimmy, embodies so much of the feeling evoked by the collection of works on show. The play of ragtime music, the sparkle of sequin dresses as bodies shake and sway and the conviviality between people who meld into, and with, dance. Music, like painting, has the power to act as a universal solvent, transmuting the individual and personally contained experience into one that can be enjoyed by all while remaining unique and personal.

About Julie Caves 

Julie has an MA from the University of the Arts London (2004) and more recently completed two years at the acclaimed independent art school, Turps Studio Painting Programme. She has exhibited extensively in London and Margate, Europe and the UK. 

She lives in Margate with a studio practice in London.