Ann Kopka: Moving On Up Down Escalators - a-n The Artists Information Company

Venue: Cavendish Conference Centre
Starts: Monday, February 1, 2016
Ends: Friday, May 27, 2016
Address: 22 Duchess Mews London W1G 9DT
Location: London
Organiser: Cavendish Conference Centre 22 Duchess Mews London W1G 9DT

A solo exhibition of more than twenty vibrant acrylic paintings informed by Ann Kopka’s fascination with the interaction of geometry, design and architecture in the urban environment. Ann Kopka’s paintings in essence lean towards abstraction although deliberately hover between the representation of recognisable images and the non-traditional formal repetition of shapes and structures prevalent in abstract art. There is a visual emphasis on exploring the relationships between structure and scale, colour and light, repetition and pattern. And the processes of deconstructing and reconstructing subject matter to articulate concepts of space produces images, which taken out of their original context, verge towards a perception of abstraction. Translating altered digital images on to large canvases requires precise measurements and calculations, and is an intensive and time consuming operation. The paintings ‘grow’ through the subtle application of multiple layers of vivid acrylic colour. Colour is employed not to be representational but to convey energy, emphasise the circulation of movement and bind the network of structures together into a coherent picture. The slow development of vibrant saturated surfaces results in paintings that have an illusion of depth sometimes with distinctive three dimensional qualities contradicting the defining flatness of abstract art and yet in art historical terms allude to analytical cubism, constructivism, op-art and geometric abstraction. Ann Kopka studied Fine Art at Central St Martins College of Art and Design and the City Lit. She has studied The Practices and Debates of Modern Art and graduated with a First Class Honours degree from The Open University. She has also studied Museum Curating at Tate Modern. Ann has exhibited in London, the UK and USA. Her work is held in private collections in France, Spain, UK, Australia and Australia. Viewing by appointment only.

To view contact Jenny Hullock 020 7706 7700. Free admission.

Nearest tube station: Oxford Circus, Great Portland Street

www.artcontemporary.co.uk

Ann Kopka

Ann Kopka is a visual artist and curator. She has exhibited her work in art galleries, museums, hospitals, churches, libraries and non-conventional spaces in London, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Italy and the USA. Ann’s work is held in private collections in the UK, France, Spain, USA and Australia. Ann’s work has been used to inspire students of all ages, from primary school children to art college students and has been the subject of GCSE art projects. She has also participated in collaborative exhibitions with jazz musicians, poets, writers, architects and designers. Ann’s art practice encompasses painting, 2D and 3D mixed media, digital art and installation. Her current interests are informed by her fascination with the relationships between geometry, design and architecture in both the urban landscape and natural world. With a visual emphasis on exploring the relationships between structure and scale, repetition and pattern, colour and rhythm, her artworks hover between the representation of recognisable images and the non-traditional formal repetition of shapes and structures prevalent in abstract art. Ann’s paintings ‘grow’ through the subtle application of multiple layers of vivid acrylic colour. Colour is employed not to be representational but to convey light and energy, emphasise the circulation of movement and bind the network of structures together into a coherent picture. The slow buildup of vibrant saturated surfaces results in paintings that have an illusion of depth sometimes with distinctive three dimensional qualities contradicting the defining flatness of abstract art and yet in art historical terms allude to analytical cubism, constructivism, op-art and geometric abstraction. The processes of deconstructing and reconstructing subject matter to articulate concepts of space also resonates with Ann’s digital artwork where subject matter is taken out of its original context and re-imagined alluding to a further interpretation of abstraction. Ann’s mixed media and 3D artwork engages with the research, process and transformation of discarded everyday ephemera and disregarded disposable objects of little or no intrinsic value. Through the concept of recycling and ‘making something out of nothing’ Ann seeks to draw attention to the throwaway nature of consumer society and sustainability, questioning our perception of its value systems. Ann studied Fine Art at Central St Martins College of Art and Design and The City Lit London. She graduated from the Open University with a First Class Honours Degree where she studied The Practices and Debates of Modern Art. She has studied Museum Curating at The Tate Modern and contemporary curating at The City Lit. Ann has organised and curated several temporary exhibitions at the Heath Robinson Museum London. Ann is a member of The Free Painters and Sculptors, an independent artists co-operative and charity and also The New Constructivists artists organisation. Ann is a former member of Harrow Open Studios and the dissolved Brent Artists Resource.