Face Down: Amy Petra Woodward

Dec 5 – Jan 10 2015

Chandelier is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by British artist Amy Petra Woodward.

Taking a variety of traditions as her starting point — including The Pictures Generation, Light and Space, monochrome painting, minimalism and performance in respect to spectatorship — Woodward exhibits a set of specially manufactured works on reflective fabric (Red Dress/Re-dress and Transfixed, 2014) and optical display film (Display Enhancements, 2014).

In Red Dress/Re-dress and Transfixed, Woodward prints re-photographed film sequences onto retroreflective fabric using ultraviolet finished inks, displaying these objects in a manner that refers both to methods of presentation in sculpture and printmaking. In Display Enhancements, the artist applies pigment onto and between layers of optical display film made from lacquered acrylic.

At the centre of Woodward’s practice are the concepts of display and spectatorship. Activated by the reflective quality of the materials the artist uses, and importantly by the changes in colour and texture that occur when one varies the angle from which the work is viewed, Woodward draws both an analogy and a contrast between single viewing perspective in the history of classical representation, and the contemporary act of looking by skim-reading several images or texts quickly, now prevalent in the age of fast-paced, networked culture.

In a world where we are driven to desire and consume quickly, the face of something is often obscured or refined to benefit a particular reading of that object. By emphasising the presence of various sides to a single object, Woodward asks how we might confront a surface to find a particular relationship or connection - a way in that invites our attention.

An essay by Chris Fite-Wassilak accompanies the artist's work.

About the Artist

Amy Petra Woodward (b.1986) graduated from The Royal Academy Schools in 2013 and previously studied at Camberwell College of Art, London. Recent exhibitions include a solo presentation at Palazzo Peckham, Venice Biennale (2013) and the Selina Chenevière Award solo exhibition at The Royal Academy (2014). She has completed a studio and research residency with Unilever and has works in both the Unilever and V22 Collections.