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OVENDEN CONTEMPORARY

We are pleased to present the exciting collaborative exhibition of abstract paintings by:

Craig Kerrecoe

Esther Appleyard BA (Hons)


Three Cups Gallery
Three Cups Walk, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 4AN

23rd May to 8th July 2007

***PREVIEW RECEPTION ON 22nd MAY 2007***

Click here to download the catalogue for this touring exhibition.

The work of Craig Kerrecoe and Esther Appleyard is distinctly different yet united in the concern of exploring the essence of identity, or ‘free-will’ verses pre-destination. Both artists use DNA as their subject to investigate these issues, opening up a dialogue concerning the question of whether we are in control of our own destiny, or merely pre-disposed to live out our lives according to our genetic heritage or programming.

Craig Kerrecoe uses abstraction as a way of studying and understanding his actions, reactions and interactions with those around him. Pursuing a relatively simple ‘flesh against machine’ metaphor, using nothing more than wallpaper scrapers, he scrapes paint onto each canvas, layer after layer, as if removing these layers from his own ‘self’. He then scrapes the paint off again in the hope that this removal process will somehow ‘reveal’ the true identity that lies beneath. Whether this true identity is genetically composed or spiritually based is probably less important than the expectation that, once free, it will be unencumbered by the weight of a lifetime of experience and assumption.

Esther Appleyard’s work is concept driven and process based, resulting in multi-layered complex images. Miniature weavings are photographed and then projected on a much larger scale, exposing the inherent defects within the weave. This is a metaphor for the faults that occur within our own genetic structures and the vast implications this may have. These images are then made into digital prints on canvas or paper, to which paint, glitter and varnish is applied, decorating the sinister and exploring the contrast between the digital and man-made mark.

Kerrecoe’s work originates from a distinctly personal perspective, about how his genetic heritage has, or may have, direct implications on his own life and that of his children. Although this is certainly true of Appleyard’s work, this is not the main focus for her. She wishes to discuss broader issues of tolerance, difference and the implications genetic science may have on society in generations to come. Kerrecoe, on the other hand, wishes to break free of the psychological or spiritual failings of past generations by determining the level of control he has over his psyche, then exploiting that control in order to eliminate those failings.

The visual contrast between these artists work enables a deeper reading of their work individually. On first glance it may appear that Kerrecoe’s work is more sinister and brooding than Appleyard’s celebratory use of colour. But on closer inspection Appleyard’s decoration is a way of ‘sugar-coating’ a very serious subject– the impact of genetic engineering. Conversely, Kerrecoe’s work, although often dark, sometimes offers an optimistic sentiment that we can fight our ‘coding’ on a spiritual level.

Both Artists construct multi-layered pieces employing different processes to arrive at a similar aesthetic destination. Another unifying feature is the symbolic use of what could be read as a bar code – a metaphor for storing information. The variation of this code is the very thing that gives us our perception of individuality, but, ultimately, reduces that individuality to nothing more than a series of lines.

Are we slaves to the code? Are we little more than machines, programmed to function in an extremely specific way? Is identity just an elaborate illusion, the result of billions of chemical reactions? Can science explain all, or is there a greater unexplainable spiritual element to our existence that cannot be defined or pre-destined?

Click here to download the catalogue for this touring exhibition.