ISTANBUL’74 presents “Mediated Presence – Skype portraits and Animal Companions”, an exhibition of new works by Sandro Kopp at 6 Fitzroy Square closes tomorrow 17th October 2012.
“Mediated Presence: Skype portraits and Animal Companions” is a series of portraits painted from the artist’s Skype-sittings with friends and a variety of stuffed toys.
This latest work is a development of the artist’s long exploration into the possibilities of distilling the presence of a live sitter, even when that live sitter is delivered to the painter via technological means. This project focuses on the essence of human engagement, the continued existence of warmth, the connection within new technologies of communication, and the nature of sympathy.
The artist says of his work:
“We all crave comfort. We all value good company. We value the intimacy of sharing everyday activity- even when half a planet apart. We use mediations like Skype to bridge space – and the time it would take to tackle geography- bringing dear ones close.
As a painter dedicated to painting people, I feel much this way about the sharing of a portrait sitting; a couple of hours of acknowledgement of each others presence, a particular intimacy and comfort.
Formally, I like the concept of combining this old-fashioned medium of realistic oil portraiture with the new medium of internet-telephony. I like the way Skype distorts planes and colors and provides me with a visual shorthand that lets me work faster. The sitters are there with me the whole time.This year, my concept of good company expanded to include the contribution of the – technically – inanimate: faced with a number of cases of severe illness in my immediate family over the last months, cuddly toys became very prominent as media of presence, used between family members as ambassadors of comfort. They travelled with us, as transitional objects, binding together those parted by oceans, carrying and delivering love…In exploring this special bond further, I picked more “animal sitters” according to the particular charisma of their presence and their connection to my personal circle of friends and family.
It occurs to me that we are all possible vessels of connection: a friend sat down in conversation before us, just as a bundle of fiber fashioned into a vaguely identifiable different species. Tracking the energy of this sympathy is my particular fascination and delight.”SANDRO KOPP
Sandro Kopp was born in 1978 in Heidelberg, Germany, of New Zealand and German descent. He started drawing and painting proficiently at a very young age and had his first solo exhibition when he was seven years old, his second when he was fifteen. After graduating Abiltur majoring in Fine Art and English, Kopp moved to New Zealand in 2000. The following three years were spent studying, painting and exhibiting in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, where he lived in the creative collective, The Factory. Having left New Zealand in 2005, the next years where spent nomadically roaming around between Italy, New York, France and the UK. Since 2009 he has been based in the Highlands of Scotland. Kopp has exhibited internationally, most recently at the National Portrait Gallery, London in 2007; the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2008; at the Istancool arts festival, Istanbul, Turkey in May 2011 and at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York in January 2012.Categories
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