This enigmatic oil painting features three nude, androgynous figures against a dark, muted background. The artist employs a somber, earthy color palette, with the figures' pale, ghostly forms emerging from the shadowy hues. The figures are rendered with a sense of fluidity and movement, their bodies intertwined in a mysterious, ritualistic dance. The composition is balanced and harmonious, with the figures' curved forms and gestures creating a rhythmic, almost meditative quality. This work seems to tap into the primal, subconscious realm, evoking a sense of the ethereal and the sacred. The artist's intention may have been to explore themes of the human condition, spirituality, and the mystical nature of existence. ...
Issy Wood’s figurative paintings are uncannily familiar, yet ultimately bizarre. Depicting luxurious and decorative objects, 19th century relics, sphinx-women, numerous portraits of Joan Rivers, among others, her works blend contemporary emblems with those from the past. The muted colours of Wood’s canvases convey a sense of tiredness with materialism of both luxury of silver tableware, decorative arches, porcelain tea sets and lavishness of leather jackets and fake nails. Mixing traditional elements of painting with contemporary textures of clothes, Wood's practice further incorporates sculpture, installation and writing. The intersection of the historical timelines, the seeming emptiness and weariness of her practice earned her the title of a “mediaeval millennial”. Wood often repeats her subject matters across many works, showing a methodical obsession with things and personas in an attempt to excavate and investigate them, humoursely or not. ...
Founded in 2011, Carlos/Ishikawa’s program is dedicated to considered and ambitious exhibitions that offer diverse artists’ perspectives on structural, socio-cultural, and political questions. The program focuses on international artists with often wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary and experimental practices. There is an interest within the program of challenging the aesthetic conventions of conceptual art, and a focus on art that is able to operate on an affective, emotional level as well as a rigorous intellectual one. The gallery has offered many artists their first solo show, many of whom have gone on to receive recognition internationally. ...
