With in person events still seeming like a far off prospect Painting students from Grays School of Art opted to bring their Pre Degree show online under the banner 'Cusp'. After 12 months of seeing online shows I'm really missing the feeling of walking into a physical space and being able to take in the work first hand. There's been a huge effort put into enhancing the online experience with virtual rooms and augmented spaces becoming the norm but for my money I enjoy a simple jpeg of the work which is exactly what these 4th year painters have served up.
The Pre Degree Show is a good dry run for the students final show which usually takes place at the RGU campus but with only a few months to go it's unclear if we'll be booking tickets to visit a physical show or if it will be online again but I hope they can find a way for us to visit in person. A scroll through the 'Cusp' website gives a good overview of this years painting graduates and the style of work they're producing which shows a diverse range of talents. Certain motifs start to stand out when seeing the works online like the bunching of lots of smaller works by Rita Kermack or Loren Wilson who's been sharing her progress videos via TikTok. In the age of less is more its sometimes nice to see a big selection and to see how the paintings ebb and flow across one another as with her 'Sky Project' depicting numerous cloud formations.
Another aspect of the 'Cusp' show I've really enjoyed is the artist bios and descriptions of their work. In all honesty I spend very little time reading these things when pasted on walls next to paintings but when presented online its easier to take in. It might even be good for when in person shows can happen again to have an online platform as a follow up to learn more about the artists. A good example is Faye Woods and her description which accompanies images of a woman peeing on some flowers. It's quite a powerful and almost shocking image but her caption helps bring some context. I mean after 20,000 years of human evolution how many times have you seen a woman pissing despite every human being ever having to do it? Our conditioning to find such images as strange or unsettling is in itself weird.
Other works like 'Captain Tom' by Jim Tripney look at life during covid and find hope. For all the crappy murals I've seen painted of Captain Tom I think Jim's painting is a great tribute, using colour and certain motifs to draw the viewer to his source of inspiration. Surveying the works in the painting section of the degree show is always fun and seeing all the vast and varied ways in which contemporary painting has evolved from the traditional landscapes and portrait styles to abstract and graphic presentations shows the breadth of the medium. Also no longer confined to the traditional canvas, many of the artists have chosen to share smaller works on paper along with excerpts from sketchbooks which is always a joy to see and leaves some suprises for the final Degree Show in June.
I'm sure 2021 will continue to throw up challenges for the creative sector and the usual flurry of degree show activity will again look very different compared to previous years but its reassuring to see that despite it all, the work continues to be made and it can still find its way to an audience. Be sure to check out the full range of works on the 'Cusp' website here and well done to everyone involved!
