(Above) Graham Lester George, Kevin Newitt. © The artist, University of Leicester
Exhibition: Face to Face – Contemporary Portraiture, September 19 – December 13 2009, The Richard Attenborough Centre, Leicester
The Richard Attenborough Centre at the University of Leicester is holding a multi-disciplinary show in honour of portraiture, called Face to Face. The exhibition will feature work from five East Midlands based artists, who all use very different styles and approaches to demonstrate the diversity of portraiture in today's society.
"Face to Face will intrigue, challenge and delight," reckons curator Stella Couloubanis. "Portraiture has many facets. It's not only about capturing a person's appearance, but also about their inner self and character.
"It has been used to depict social status, capture the moment and mood of the sitter, and as a tool for the artist to express his or her style, techniques and understanding of the subject."
Mik Godley, Silesian Woman 1. © The artist, University of Leicester
Each artist gives the viewer a different perspective of portraiture. Scott Bridgwood's paintings of nudes raise questions on whether the sitter is revealing their personality or simply playing a role.
Peter Clayton uses linoleum to create cuttings inspired by art and literature from the 1930s, which he describes as "a bright and breezy world of tweedy sleuths, eccentric aunts and moustachioed uncles, where the only blight on an otherwise sunny day is being inadvertently poisoned by some fiend, or mislaying one's cufflinks."
The paintings of Denise Watson are based on a variety of sources, from personal photographs of her son to newspaper articles exploring "the relationship between what we see, what we think we understand from what we see, and the interpretation of meaning through visual imagery."
Peter Clayton, The Romantic Poet. © The artist, Univesity of Leicester
Mik Godley has formed a collection of "e-portraits" of Polish Silesians taken from internet dating agency websites, which evoke 19th and early 20th century racial stereotypes.
Photographer Graham Lester George has produced portraits of a group of people connected only by being in the same place. He set up a portable studio in a pub and focused entirely on their faces, inviting visitors to "focus exclusively on the subject's unique humanity."
