Jeremy Stanbridge: Chromoplast

June - July 2009

 

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The Chromoplast series are paintings on shaped plastic. The shapes are derived from various sources, and are meant to imply diverse elements ranging from circuitry and product packaging to celestial bodies, breast implants and water droplets.

 

The works start with the creation of a computer file, which is then CNC routed and assembled to create a mold. The mold is then vacuformed in plastic, and an edition of five to ten molds is pulled. Each individual mold is then painted. Thus, the works are a variation of painted surfaces on one particular shape.

 

The domes and amoeba like shapes, each are blown to specific dimensions, and then painted, these shapes are unique.

 

The works are painted with automotive paint, using an airbrush. The paint itself is applied to the back of the plastic so the works are painted in reverse, the first marks being the most visible. The surfaces are metallic and some have metal flake. This gives the surface the appeal, while the plastic reflection acts as an irritant. Reflections cause the viewer to move about the work, attempting to find the particular point to absorb the underlying slick surface without distraction. As in my earlier work, there is juxtaposition between attraction and repulsion, an unattainable calm. The materiality draws in the viewer in the same way as a beautifully painted automobile, ultra glossy lipstick, or a deeply hued bruise.

 

Like my earlier painting series, these paintings have their root in 1950-70’s abstract painting. Specifically, the paintings relate to the Light Space Movement of the 1960’s. Artists such as Robert Irwin and Craig Kaufmann used plastics to create optical experiences and modernist forms. I am interested in relating these artists to the Kustom Kulture(“Big Daddy” Ed Roth) movement of hot rod culture, incorporating influences of what is traditionally thought of as “low culture”. In addition, the serial nature of the shapes relates to Donald Judd as well as other artists of the period whose work conceptually referenced a mechanical sense of production. Most importantly, the works relate to my past work in the operation of a “change of aspect”(1) a change of optical perception that exists between the object itself and the perception of that object. This has always been the most intriguing part of my art making process, the activation of a “space between.” These new paintings continue to relate to the body in a humorous way, as some of the shapes appear to mimic body parts, or anthropomorphized life forms.

 

However, unlike my work in the past, these paintings hold more of a relationship to the architectural space surrounding the piece, activating, containing and trapping the wall in its peninsulas and bay’s. The wall itself becomes a part of the painting.

 

(1)-Ludwig Wittgenstien, Philisophical Investigations, 1958

 

 

 

 

 

 

JEREMY STANBRIDGE

b. 1972, Vancouver, Canada, lives and works in Vancouver

 

Solo Exhibitions

• 2009 SPLAT, 2 of 2 Gallery, Toronto, Canada
• 2008 STACK AND AUGMENT, Republic Gallery,Vancouver, Canada
• 2004 FUZZY LOGIC, State Gallery,Vancouver, Canada
• 2002 SHIFT, Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto, Canada
• 2001 FLIP SIDE, Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto, Canada
• 1999 GOGGLE, Anodyne Contemporary, Vancouver, Canada

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2008 VANISH, Art Gallery of Regina, Regina, Canada
• 2003 hard curves, soft points, State gallery, Vancouver, Canada(two Person)
• 2002 PAPER, State Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
• 2001 GROUP SHOW, Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto, Canada
• 2001 ARTROPOLIS, CBC STUDIOS, Vancouver, Canada
• 2000 VISUAL STIMULANTS, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada(three person)
• 1998/1999 WEAK THOUGHT, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
• 1996 RECENT PAINTINGS, Open Space Gallery, Victoria, Canada (two person)
• 1996 FEATURED ARTIST, Artists Space (web site), New York, N.Y., U.S.A.
• 1995 DRAWINGS, Artists Space, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.
• 1994 ANTI CLIMAX, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
• 1994 NEW WORK, History in Art Gallery, Victoria, Canada
• 1993 THREE JIMS DO M-HUT, M-Hut Gallery, Victoria, Canada

Awards

• 2004 B.C. Arts Council Grant
• 2001 VADA Grant
• 2000 B.C. Arts Council Grant
• 1993 Helen Pitt Award

Education

 

1990 to 1994 BFA (with distinction) – University of Victoria, (Victoria, Canada)