WINNER of the Pulse Prize, Philip Gurrey at MADDER139 15 May - 21 June

Exhibition Description:

Philip Gurrey presents a series of paintings that explore notions of introspection, concentrating on the bridge between contemporary culture and visual art and its historical precedents.

His work being reminiscent of DJ, the artist has pieced together portraits from the Enlightenment period and like a surgeon with his scalpel, sculpts a new vision.
Historically renowned faces become twisted into contemporary fleshy faces of humour and pathos.

Gurrey focuses upon people of high status and interest, in wealth, politics and service. Their portraits glowing, despite some of the eyes being so disfigured that they are not open. Here the artist has painted in an androgynous manner. This illustrates the dichotomy of the self, and is achieved by often segregating his subjects in two. Goya is renowned for this concept of the 'split self' and the notion of many different personalities in one face.

Gurrey is a recent graduate from Glasgow School of Art. He was born in 1984 and lives and works in Scotland. His work has been shown at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He was awarded the British Airways Student Travel Award 2007 and featured in The Sunday Times Culture supplement on young artists in August 2007.

This will be Gurrey's first UK solo show. Recently, Gurrey won the PULSE Prize in New York March 2008. This prize is a cash prize awarded to an emerging artist of distinction showing in the IMPULSE section of the fair. The selection committee for this prize is comprised of an international roster of curators, gallerists and dealers.
Phillip Gurrey will also be on show at NEXT, the emerging invitational art fair in Chicago, 25th-28th April 2008.

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