Pinta Miami, Miami
Stephen Palmer, Nothing is ours, 2020, carbon paper and transfer paper on paper, 30x22cm
Stephen Palmer, Don’t know what I’m looking for, 2018, gouache on paper, 30x21cm
Stephen Palmer, Nothing left to lose, 2019, gouache on paper, 30x21cm
2-15 December 2020
Vane is pleased to announce the gallery’s participation in the online Solo Projects section of the Pinta Miami art fair, 2-15 December 2020, showcasing the work of Stephen Palmer.
Stephen Palmer’s recent paintings and drawings start from a sheet of paper that has been defaced through a series of actions. The paper is first scribbled on with biro, and sometimes more defined geometric shapes are added, also in biro. It is then folded, screwed up, ripped, cut up, and finally unfolded or reassembled as if an attempt has been made to once again make the paper good. The slow and labour-intensive process of rendering these objects in gouache or graphite pencil onto another sheet of A4, or most recently on paper mounted on board, is the antithesis of the process that goes into making the models.
Earlier paintings feature second-hand copies of albums by iconic male singers. Palmer partially obscures the original cover artwork by placing the record’s inner sleeve over it so that little more than the face of the recording artist is visible. By highlighting the inner sleeves with their additions of personalised messages and texts, hand written by their one-time owners, Palmer creates a conversation between our idea of that artist and their work (whether it’s David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, or Frank Sinatra) and the ‘unknown’ person who once eagerly scrawled or carefully printed their thoughts thereon. Another series of drawings transcribes newspapers clippings, each rendered in painstaking detail, a process that confers value to events that may otherwise appear of little importance. In these earlier works, though the selection of stories seems random, the topics – such as ufology, war or obituaries – all attract an obsessive following.
Stephen Palmer, Adrian is Ace!!! Jackie is?.....!!!, 2014, oil on canvas, 35.5x35.5cm
Stephen Palmer, Nicholas Poole, 2014, oil on canvas, 35x35cm
Curated by Roc Laseca, the Solo Projects section intends to allow visitors to discover new artists. Miami Pinta Solo Projects gathers a group of ten individual projects. Special interest is dedicated to projects that explore materiality and focus on the groundwork of two dimensionality.
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