 The Vast Unkown (detail), 2006 Hannah Brown At the moment Hannah Brown is searching for her perfect hill: A softly rounded, gentle rolling hill, steeper on one side than the other and standing alone with a cluster of trees on top. Working within and against an omnipresent legacy of the English landscape tradition, Brown is interested in the various manifestations and interpretations of the English countryside. Going in search of the picturesque, her work meditates on the cliché of the "green and pleasant land", its idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. In looking for the perfect vista, Brown identifies key components of a classic landscape image: fields, hills, trees, hedgerows. These images, produced as paintings, manipulated digital prints, and painted-over photographs, are combined with sculptural objects such as a plaster boulder or a wooden fence. The painted surfaces of Hannah Brown's work problematise the truth of what is real and not, and point to the human construction of our environments. Just as in real life, in order to access the landscapes offered in Brown's pictures, audiences have to negotiate boundaries that maintain division. Moving around the sculptural elements of each work before arriving at the picture reminds us that for most city-dwellers, experiences of the countryside are meditated. Brown gathers her imagery by taking photographs on the train journey from London to the West Country or by driving around small country lanes, slowing at every gateway to see what the view is like. Consequently the majority of her images are framed, as though by a train or car window, so that the land is already at a distance. Historically this division has enabled a situation in which the truth of the landscape is jettisoned for a romantic version of it. Hannah Brown received a First Class BA Hons, in Fine Art Sculpture from Central Saint Martin's College of Art, and recently completed her Masters at the Royal College of Art, London. She has exhibited in numerous group shows, including: "Day-to-Day Data", touring Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, and Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth; "Between Place and Space", Blythe Gallery, London; and "Notion Nanny Tea Party", Studio Voltaire, London. This is her first solo exhibition. Exhibition: 7 September - 5 October 2006 Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 10 am - 5.30 pm, Sat 11 am - 4 pm Gimpel Fils Downstairs 30 Davies Street GB-London, W1K 4NB Telephone +44 20 7493 2488 Fax +44 20 7629 5732 Email info@gimpelfils.com www.gimpelfils.com As part of Gimpel Fils continuing commitment to contemporary art, Downstairs opened in November 2004 as a dedicated project space, showcasing challenging and experimental artwork. Downstairs has its own exhibition programme comprising solo shows by emerging and established artists who have not previously exhibited at the gallery. |
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