A new body of work by Arth Daniels
Dates: 16th November – 2nd December
StolenSpace is to present a solo exhibition by the artist Arth Daniels. Featuring paintings on canvas and 3dsculptures.
Arth Daniels isn’t quite what you’d expect from a self taught portrait artist, especially one whose work has been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery. His work is anything but traditional; Inspired by Cinema, Make-up artistry and Visual Effects, Arth’s paintings utilise his studies in photorealism to portray the grandeur of facial expression, identity and form whilst incorporating humour along the way.
Artist Statement:
With the new series of paintings my aim is to try and move away from the darker works whilst keeping the same theme, shifting away from harsher imagery and muting the elements of surrealism I hope the new work carries a linear idea.
Focusing on the idea that facial features by today’s means are interchangeable, people choose to alter and changetheir appearance on a superficial basis. ‘Plastic Surgery’ plays on this by identifying difference characteristics frompersonally observed studies, whether from real life, cartoon or popular culture and assembling them together inways they wouldn’t usually in order to see the effects. The idea behind the show is essentially a visual mix andmatch, and this is to keep the viewer looking, to make them find their very own portraits within the paintings and to attempt to create an infinite combination of identifiable faces.
I like the fact that people in the past have looked at my assemblage paintings and complemented a singular section as though it was my personal intention focal point for the piece – whereas in most cases this is a reflection uponwhat they themselves were looking for in the pieces. This interaction is the most exciting, and the new work pushesthis idea further; in the literal sense with the Limited edition ‘Mugshots’ they can hand pick themselves or withinthe larger, narrower paintings where they are one thing when isolated but another entirely when displayed together.
The concept behind the narrow paintings being displayed as separated canvases in intended to tie in with themesin the work from my first solo show. The idea is for each painting to stand alone as an abstract piece but whenaccumulated side by side they gain a heavier visual impact. In the same way that when a section of a person’s face isisolated, it’s simply a ‘a nose’ or ‘an eye’ but when put into context with the others it forms an overall appearance, a face and therefore a portrait.
The square canvases are portraits I have compiled and characters I have devised but the primary goal is toencourage them to try for themselves, aiding the viewer to re-evaluate the 9ft wide (when assembled) painting inthe show and see if can find some for themselves. Some of the bolder images intentionally utilise the canvases negative space of pure white to replicate the pristine,clinical edge that is associated with surgical procedures. This applies to the painting style too and the lighting ofthe studies; some of the focal points are sharp and tightly finished with stark shadows. However, upon closerinspection there are hints of painterly flare when needed to help emphasise, and in places, exaggerate character.
The work and the process behind the work is playful and I hope this translates, I’m not aiming to shock with it inthe slightest, but to make people look at things from a different angle whilst remaining visually bold and engaging on a surface level. The colours are easy on the eye, and the palette is considered. The work is inspired by manyelements but with this show there is a strong influence from tangible design, 3D visual arts and sculpture.
