Fiona Rae at Timothy Taylor Gallery from 23 May - 28 Jun

Exhibition Description:

In her new body of work, Rae employs a battery of painterly marks and graphic signs that jostle for space on the fictive plane of painting. She revels in juxtaposing of elements gleaned from a raid on art history’s store cupboard. Her genre combines a layering of Abstract Expressionism, Tachism and Minimalism alongside contemporary global references from graphic design and popular culture.

The mood of Rae's work is ambiguous – flowers, toys and cartoon characters initially suggest a sweet, almost cloying world. Yet her dark and brooding palette combined with virtuoso washes and veils of paint suggest dissolution and decay – all is not well in this candied, melting world.

These contrasting subjects also include Rae’s continued fascination with the graphic tropes of the Far East. She combines dragon’s scales, exotic feathers and flowers in a humorous insouciance of Hokusai crossed with Asterix. An unsettling combination of sweet Eastern promise and bubble-gum neon Pop with something darker and threatening... Perhaps reminiscent of the Northern European Apocalyptic tradition of Albrecht Dürer or Hieronymous Bosch, conjures a vision of an interwoven heavenly hell or hellish heaven – all the while demonstrating the pure joy of paint itself.

Image: Fiona Rae
'We go in search of our Dream', 2007
Oil and acrylic on canvas
84 x 69 in. / 213 x 175 cm
Courtesy the artist and Timothy Taylor Gallery , London
Copyright: Fiona Rae, 2008

Education and Training:

Fiona Rae was born in Hong Kong in 1963. She completed a BA Hons Fine Art degree at Goldsmiths College in 1987. She took part in Damien Hirst’s Freeze in 1988 and shortly afterwards was included in the Serpentine Gallery's 1989 Promises, promises show, The British Art Show at the Hayward Gallery in 1990, and Aperto at the Venice Biennale in 1990. Rae was shortlisted for the Turner Prize, Tate Gallery, 1991 within four years of graduating. Since then she has participated in many group and solo exhibitions in museums, institutions and galleries worldwide. Rae’s work is represented in numerous public collections. She was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2002 and appointed a Tate Artist Trustee in 2005.

Full Contact Details:

15 Carlos Place
London
W1K 2EX 21 Dering Street
London
W1S 1AL

Tel. +44 (0)20 7409 3344
Fax. +44 (0)20 7409 1316

Gallery opening hours
Monday to Friday 10am — 6pm
Saturday 10am — 1pm
The gallery may be closed in between exhibitions and on public holidays