GLENN IBBITSON “CONSIGNMENT”
STUDIO 75 is very proud to be presenting a solo show by the painter Glenn Ibbitson.We persuaded him to leave the dramatic mountains and stormy seas of Wales to come to the filthy big Smoke to show us his exciting project Consignment.
‘CONSIGNMENT @ STUDIO75’ is a selection from an ongoing project of painting, print and film on the theme of human trafficking and extraordinary rendition. Boxed, labelled, despatched. Units in batches; humanity as mere commodity.
In this work Ibbitson does not attempt to “document” or “explain” or even to depict what human trafficking might look like. Instead he has sought to explore, through figurative art and film, what the human lived experience of being objectified and commodified might feel like on a basic physical level. Figures in boxes, hemmed in, restricted and powerless, made haunting and compelling by the artist’s mastery of his media.
An exciting aspect of this body of work is Ibbitson’s demonstration of the capability of figurative art in exploring the kind of notions and emotions which words or conscious explanation cannot approach. Painting the unspoken.
We picked Glenn after Nazir exhibited with him at Shoredtich Town Hall and his work stood out a by a mile. His work manages to be both firmly and proudly in keeping with the long tradition of figurative art, yet boldly addressing contemporary issues and mindsets, offering fresh new views on the world around, and inside, us.
Glenn’s work has something in common with Lucian Freud’s, but unlike Freud he’s never bitter or sour; his vision is profoundly humane and even optimistic, in the face of the horrors of the man-created world and the dark psychology of the human mind.
The pieces will be rotated at the start of each day so that the exhibition re-invents itself visually throughout the run. A short film will accompany the paintings.
Studio 75 | June 30 – July 03| DAILY
Opening Thursday June 30 6 pm
