The Art of Observation: Group Show, NYC

“When I go to an exhibition, I’m almost as interested in the people looking around as in the work itself. I keep a little sketchbook on me so I can remember day to day narratives that I see around me.” – Rose Blake

The Mott Street gallery’s December exhibition celebrates the art of observation – both within and without of the artworks on display.

Rose Blake will be represented by her monoprints, which draw on the imagery of museum spaces. Each work captures the busy hum of a gallery concourse, the crowds of art-loving spectators bringing their own story to a scene already rich with references to popular culture and art history. Blake not only delights in observing the traditions in which she works, but she delights in others observing them too.

Laura Jordan’s intricately detailed cityscapes also work to capture all facets of metropolitan existence – the simultaneous vitality and mundanity of its everyday workings. In contrast, Barbara Macfarlane’s observations of New York from an aerial perspective borrow from a more gestural tradition, and yet on closer examination reveal complex layering of colour and juxtaposing textures.

Phil Shaw will be represented by his hyper-real bookshelf prints, crafted through the innovative process of ‘digital painting’. Also rewarding close observation, the display will include the delicate yet precise graphite drawings of Jackie Case and Ross Bonfanti’s concrete sculpture, whose softer details are subverted by the artist’s use of cement and hardware materials.