Opening view: Saturday 28 April, 2-4pm
28 April to 2 June 2007
Unit 2 Gallery is pleased to present Alicia Paz's first major solo exhibition in Britain. Drawing from various art traditions and cultural references (including Abstract Expressionism, ancient Chinese painting, Art Brut, comic books, cartoons and fashion magazines) Paz's paintings at first glance appear as something of an anarchy of appropriation. However, this apparent visual cacophony - characterised by the splurges and splodges of paint, and an adept use of collage, texture and scale - belies a more discerning set of narratives within her work.
In Paz's 'monsters' series, images of women often garnered from fashion magazines are transformed into robots, and various forms of amphibian life, inhabiting desolate landscapes and underwater worlds. Trees, with all their cultural and mythological associations, are the focus of Paz's recent paintings in which fantastical characters and objects are fused to create a world that is as idyllic as it is outlandish. In another new body of work, Paz evokes elements of Chinese scroll painting and tableau vivant ('living picture') - the elaborate French tradition of silent and motionless theatre. Born out of a labour intensive production process, Paz's work playfully scrutinises the many languages and traditions of painting. In doing so, her practice also reveals a wider fascination with cultural iconography, history and identity.
A free illustrated colour brochure, accompanies this exhibition, featuring a newly commissioned text in which writer and critic Alison Green is in conversation with Alicia Paz.
Artist Talk: Thursday 17 May 2007, 7pm at Unit 2 Gallery
Biography
Alicia Paz was born in 1967 in Mexico City. She graduated in Art and Communications from U.C. Berkeley in 1989 and the Post Graduate Diploma from Goldsmiths College in 2000 . She has participated in various group exhibitions including Nous nous sommes tant aimés , ENSB-A, Paris, France, 1999 ; Continental Shift , Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany, 2000 ; East International in Norwich, England, 2004 ; Caution,Uneven Surfaces , temporary contemporary, London, England, 2004 ; Painting Unperfect at Houldsworth Gallery, London, 2005 ; John Moores 24 , Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Biennial, 2006 . She has also had several solo exhibitions in France, Mexico and Argentina, and most recently at Ruth Benzacar Gallery in Buenos Aires, 2005 . She currently lives and works in London.
Artist: Alicia Paz
Exhibition: New and Recent Paintings
Opening Times: Tuesday - Friday 12-6pm and Saturday 1-6pm
Admission: Free
Private View: Saturday 28 April, 2007, 2-4pm
Exhibition: 28 April to 2 June 2007
