Current MFA student Merna Liddawi has recently been selected for the Malamegi LAB.7, an International competition and exhibition in Venice, Italy. The work of winning artists will be on display between March 5th-19th at Campo del Ghetto Vecchio, in the Cannaregio area of the city. The international flavour of the event will provide exciting professional practice and networking opportunities.
Merna's pieces are complex constructions of egg tempera, lemon gold leaf and true gesso on a ground of birch plywood. She uses fifteenth century methods, often those found in Cennino Cennini's Il Libro Dell'Arte, to build up layered images - and genuine mineral pigments (such as Azurite) and earth pigments (such as Ochres and Hematite) to preserve the richness of colour. The gessoed panels undergo a lengthy preparation process using rabbit skin glue and sanding to a smooth finish. These panels are then gilded with 23.5ct gold leaf using medieval methods of water gilding and traditional tools. Several layers of glaze are laid down, helping to create transparency and luminosity. The complexity of the process is countered by the simplicity of the imagery.
Update: photographs from the exhibition opening can be found here.
Recently graduated MA student Alice McVicker has exhibited as part of Exceptional, a group exhibition showcasing artists with connections to three London art schools: Goldsmiths, Middlesex University and City & Guilds of London Art School. Prior to undertaking her Visual Arts MA at West Dean College, Alice attended the latter institution and was invited to take part in Exceptional by curator (and regular West Dean Short Course tutor), Rosalind Davis. The exhibition will be at Collyer Bristow Gallery until 14th June 2017 (open by appointment).
Rosalind comments: "It has been a fascinating process to select works from a wide range of new graduate artists and see the themes and concerns that resonate, overlap or are diverse in this illuminating snapshot."
http://www.collyerbristow.com/art-gallery
