Imogen Taylor
BODY LANGUAGE
Artspace
6 November — 5 December 2015

Co-curated by Victoria Wynne-Jones
Architectural Elements designed by Kimberly Read, produced by Michael Lee

Unabashed and demanding, paintings by Auckland-based artist Imogen Taylor have stage presence, they push, pull, crowd and distance in her latest solo exhibition for Artspace.

BODY LANGUAGE articulates the actual circumstances in which viewers as beholders, interpreters or audience members encounter artworks, become aware and act accordingly. Large scale works constructed in acrylic upon hessian and canvas send out signals – curvilinear, geometric, biomorphic – they appeal and activate relationships which are aided by a unique exhibition environment. Architectural elements form ramps, platforms or a stage, they exist with the paintings as large forms inviting certain types of movement or behaviour.

A multitude of drawings amassed by the artist form an additional component to the exhibition. On display upon a wall adjacent to the paintings each drawing has been made on the fly, marking with available materials moments of attention or distraction as well as experimentation and execution on a smaller scale. A hand-drawn artist zine will also be produced as part of BODY LANGUAGE in both limited print and electronic form. Both insightful and incisive it examines the vicissitudes and politics of the local art scene.

Emphasis is placed upon multiple art situations, situations that include contemplation, mind-wandering or preparation – art situations that extend through various places, temporalities, modalities, energies and moods.