Last week we popped our heads into Piccadilly Place to check out the final pieces from five Manchester Art School students.
The location and environment of the exhibition; an industrial open spaced room ready for refurbishment, perfectly complimented the theme “Transience”- a perspective on the art of temporary.
The five budding artists; Charly Gibbs, Hattie Coombe, Vic Cooper, Nikoline Hogga and Georgie Parker employed several art techniques including oil on canvas, oil on board, watercolour, laser printing, alcohol ink and paper cut out.
STYLE-etc particularly liked 20-year-old Charly Gibbs depictions of late icons such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Marylin Monroe, and her painting of a young girl with elder hands.
Miss Gibbs tells us her inspiration came from “the uncanny side of the human body” and “how our body may decay naturally and how we may speed the process ourselves, through addictive personalities.”
“I wanted the piece to have a child like atmosphere in every way possible, even changing the way I have been working in a sense- turning the portrait into a snapshot. The light-heartedness of the positioning and brightness of the colour creates the youthful feeling until the viewer notices the hands. I rely on the sense of the uncanny throughout my practice, it’s my main inspiration and if I can create a piece which can make people feel unsettled I feel I have worked well. This particular piece presents the inevitable decay of the body in the way I would have wanted it too-subtly yet forcefully.”
We love checking out new talent and we will be keeping an eye on these particular artists for the future!
By Shauna Connolly
