UPPER GALLERY AND LONG GALLERY Cathy Stocker - Open a 'pdf' of this press release - return to Galleries PR Index

PRESS RELEASE

1982, Queen Alexandra Road. Pencil and watercolour on paper, 2014. 60 x 60cms

CATHY STOCKER: Sitting still for Cathy

4th September 28th September 2014

Lauderdale House is pleased to present a new exhibition of work by Cathy Stocker.

This will be her 2nd solo show at Lauderdale House and first exhibition of portraits.

Cathy Stocker was born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire in 1965. She studied at

Amersham College of Art and Design and Leeds Polytechnic (Metropolitan

University), graduating in 1988 with a B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art. Cathy has exhibited in

the United Kingdom and Finland. In 2011, she was the Pride in the House winner at

Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park, Highgate, London, the venue for the current

exhibition. She lives and works from her studio in North London.

Stocker’s current concern is with the creation of portraiture, inspired by David

Hockney’s large-format drawings of Family, Friends and Best Friends, at Salts Mill in

1994, her solo exhibition is a series of drawings from life, in a single sitting of friends

and family.

Stocker remarks, “In this series I am interested in trying to see how much I feel and

understand the person. How well I know them. Intensifying reality and truly

representing the life that ‘I’ see.”

Aspiring to capture the senses of the viewer whilst intensifying the reality of the

subject, Stocker works directly from life instead of copying from reproduced work; this

method is essential in her working practice.

The sparse use of line and deliberate position of the sitter echo the work of an Old

Master, Hans Holbein the Younger. Even though the gap spans some five hundred

years, viewers of Stocker’s work have commented upon a connection between old

master and contemporary artist. This is something Stocker has since taken time to

acknowledge by recently studying the original Holbein Drawings first hand at the

Royal Print Room, Windsor Castle.

“I was unaware about the relevance of Hans Holbein the Youngers portrait drawings

(as artist to the Royal court of King Henry VIII), whilst making the majority of my

work. As associations/references kept being mentioned by different people, it started

to become something I couldnt ignore. I thought it only right to study the Holbein

drawings first hand, to have an appropriate response to such declarations.

The work will be hung in a particular order, but will break with the habitual form of

labelling, with the information that is customary to accompany works dispensed of

(i.e. the name of the subject/sitter). Instead, each work is accompanied by a date and

a road name. The intention of presenting the work without the subjects name is to

allow the viewer to investigate the relationship between sitter and artist.

The two oil paintings in the exhibition (Ref ‘Untitled’) are a natural progression from

the drawings, but not intended to be ‘copies’. By working directly from the drawings,

Stocker’s aim was to discover something new about these characters. The features

seem to be youthful, which was unintentional.

"When you meet a person for the first time, sometimes we store that primary image

of their face in our minds. Is it possible then that the initial encounter and snapshot of

their face and how that describes their persona is the portrait that stays with you over

the years? A single essence, extracted in a moment and preserved over time."

- Notes for Editors -

Exhibition: CATHY STOCKER: Sitting still for Cathy

Exhibition Dates: 4th September 28 September 2014

Opening Times: Wednesday – Friday 10.00 am 4.00 pm

Sunday 11.00 am 5.00pm

Private View: 04 September 7.30-9.00pm (All welcome)

Venue: Upper Gallery and Long Gallery, Lauderdale House, Waterlow

Park, Highgate Hill, London N6 5HG

Telephone: 020 8348 8716

Admission: Free

Website: www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk

Nearest tubes: Archway / Highgate

Buses: 143 - 210 - 214 - 271 603

Press contact: Alana Pryce Tojcic - email: info@alanapryce.co.uk

Website: www.cathystocker.com

Email: cathy@cathystocker.com

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