 The Premonition of the Armadillogirl, 2007 watercolour and felt-tip pen on paper, 50.5 x 35.5 cm Julie Nord Afternoon at the Fringe Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to present Danish artist Julie Nord's first UK solo exhibition entitled "Afternoon at the Fringe". Since completing her education at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2001, Nord has received tremendous national and international success with shows at AroS-Aarhus Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, and 21C Museum, Kentucky to name but a few. Julie Nord's ink drawings and paintings have achieved critical significance due to their exploration of a surreal universe. These scenes appear familiar to us through our recollection of childhood literature, a land of fairytales and fantasy. And yet they are darkly resurrected from this period of innocence - appearing almost apocalyptic in their kitsch-gothic reproduction. Nord's interpretative works thus create a space between the unquestioning innocence of youth and the cynical awareness that develops from maturity. Still the works remain inherently fictional due to Nord's play on proportion and caricature style. The viewer is lured into a false sense of security then shocked by the newly sinister scene. The effect is one of entrapment - simultaneously captivating and disturbing. Nord's drawings are thus the effect of conjuring a nostalgic past poisoned by the unsettling reality awoken to in adulthood. Julie Nord has enjoyed global success with major group projects including "Through the Rabbit Hole: Sleights of Scale and Flights of Fancy" at 21C Museum, Kentucky; "Girlpower & Boyhood" at Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh; "MALM 2" at Malmö Kunsthal, Sweden; "Fiction@Love: Forever Young Land" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai; "Ultra New Vision of Contemporary Art" at the Singapore Art Museum and "Fairy Tales Forever" at AroS-Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark. Solo shows include "Elsewhere" at Mogadishni; "The Cycle" at la Caixa Foundation, Spain and "From Wonderland with Love" at AroS-Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark. Exhibition: 22 June - 21 July 2007 Gallery hours: Tues-Fri 10am - 5.30pm, Sat 10am - 4pm Houldsworth Gallery 50 Pall Mall Deposit 124-128 Barlby Road UK-London W10 6BL Telephone +44 (0)20 8969 6166 Fax +44 (0)20 7434 3636 Email gallery@houldsworth.co.uk www.houldsworth.co.uk |
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