---------- 31 AUGUST - 6 SEPTEMBER 2007 Grant Rogers : We Are All Very Small |
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---------- Email josie.reed@chapelrowgallery.com ---------- © COPYRIGHT 2007 - 2011 l CHAPEL ROW GALLERY ---------- |
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Thirty new oil paintings by the internationally renowned artist, Grant Rogers (b. 1964), were on display in the gallery. In this latest exhibition, Rogers brought animal portraiture bang up-to-date with an exploration of the role these creatures play in current society. The focus was primarily on dogs and cats and was fun and frivolous, yet strangely disquieting. These new paintings, all of which were executed over the last year, explore the complex relationship between man and beast. The works featured, in large scale, the faces and bodies of, among others, Chihuahuas, Pekinese, poodles, pugs and cats. Some fill the picture space in canvases of up to 5ft square. His subjects frequently appear in soft focus or surrounded by a single block of colour and there is often an element of kitsch in the work, such as in One Eyed Dog 2005, while in other pieces, like Green Hound 2005, the animals are portrayed as powerful and majestic. Sometimes shown to be camp, these creatures will have top knots, adornments, ruffs or seem to be dancing as though part of a circus act. Rogers has always been fascinated by the character of animals - seeing them as performers, but also identifying their vulnerability and dependence upon human beings. He is particularly interested in the role of the animal as part of the ideal family and notes that, because his family moved from country to country when he was young, he found the talking animals in Disney and Warner Brothers animations a constant in his life that fuelled his imagination. As a child he also became aware of the positive attention he received when he copied animations. Later he became interested in how we welcome animals into our homes as pets, companions, and surrogate children and also of how they can be symbolic of class and religion. The exhibition, We Are All Very Small, gave full expression to Rogers' lifelong exploration of these themes. The artist was born in Singapore in 1964 and is now based in London. Between 1994 and 1996 he was a director of Cubitt Artists, an artists' collective in Kings Cross. His works have been shown in numerous group and solo exhibitions including The Whitechapel Open, Cubitt Open, Gasworks Gallery, The Spitz Gallery and The Graham Paton Gallery. He has worked in the Education departments of The National Gallery (since 1993), National Portrait Gallery (since 1997) and is currently Family and Informal Education co-ordinator at The Imperial War Museum in London. In addition, since 1998 he has been teaching drawing and painting in Italy to students for Art History Abroad. |
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