Chisenhale Gallery, London E3
chisenhale.org.uk

This Chisenhale Crit took place during Joshua Leon’s exhibition ‘The Missing O and E’ (on until 21 April 2024). at Chisenhale Gallery, with guest responder artist Caragh Thuring, facilitated by Peer Sessions (Kate Pickering and Charlotte Warne Thomas) to dicuss the work of two artists and elicit feedback from the assembled group.

Ellie Wang showed two paintings; Prosperity, Longevity and Eternal Bliss; and Possibly Bitter. The discussion focussed on the complex composition of Prosperity, Longevity and Eternal Bliss, particularly on the various layers, different styles and paint application techniques visible in the painting, which was rendered across two panels. Some felt the painting was very joyful and celebratory, others that the layering was more metaphorical, indicating stages or timeframes of a person or transition between cultures.

Purdey Williams showed four small canvases, one titled Possession; the others as-yet untitled and potentially unfinished. The respondents were intrigued by the mysterious imagery in the works, which they felt gave the paintings an ambiguous and ghostly atmosphere. The discussion revolved around the colours, figures and enigmatic figure-like shapes, which to some in the group recalled aspects of 20^th Century German Expressionism, conveying something of the “unheimlich” or unhinged.

Ellie Wang is an artist currently living and working in London. She graduated from BA Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London in 2018

https://www.ellieaiwang.com/