NO LAST DANCE - Paul Merrick

NO LAST DANCE

Newcastle Contemporary Art

High Bridge Works

31-39 High Bridge

Newcastle upon Tyne

A group exhibition and one-day symposium exploring how time is intrinsic to the act of making and viewing painting. The exhibition will showcase exciting approaches to painting that will be a stimulus for discussion about how artists sustain a motivated and ambitious practice with or without public recognition.

The curation of the exhibition has been informed by the writing and practice of Isabelle Graw and Charline von Heyl. Isabelle Graw is an art writer who is interested in painting as a “formation”, something that continues to maintain itself under new historical conditions. As well as offering a way of discursive communication, painting operates at a non verbal level through bumps, marks, material and colour. Artist Charline von Heyl suggests that the moment of beholding a painting is the most important for her. That activation of the space between the viewer and the picture externally by its material presence and internally through shifting thoughts as the mind wanders is crucial. This process with a painting is not one the beholder can take away, but one that needs to be replayed and updated again and again whether positive or defensive.

In an interview, Phyllida Barlow (1944 – 2023) observed that many artists’ work is never, or rarely gets seen. She raises interesting, but rarely discussed ideas about an artist’s visibility and the inherent heroism in working with little external validation. This point was echoed in a series of conversation events held at NCA leading up to the exhibition, which identified questions of artistic visibility and agency as a central concern. These conversations also played an important role in the curation of the exhibition and will be explored further in the symposium.