Abstract

PALCE, 2006-9: a body of work comprising 15 large oil paintings and a portfolio of A4 B&W handmade photo-collages. Ten paintings were exhibited in the solo exhibition: Virginia Bodman Paintings, BayArt, 54 B/C Bute St, Cardiff CF10 5AF, (12.9.2009-17.10.2009); BayArt is a publicly funded gallery, (Arts Council Wales, Esmee Fairbairn Trust); "The gallery promotes the best of Welsh and international contemporary art, concentrating primarily on painting." The private view, 11.9.2009, was well attended, guests included senior ACW personnel. A substantial audience attended the (paid) artist’s talk on 16.10.2009 including large numbers of UWIC Fine Art students and staff, (this was video recorded, available from the gallery). Darryl Corner’s review appeared in The Western Mail, (2.10.2009).
The project was supported by University of Sunderland, PaintingSunderland and BayArt.
PALCE is a further investigation into the absence of the feminine in the landscape and originated in the body of work shown and published as Home Ground, 2005-10 (http://www.virginiabodman.com/Home%20Ground.htmlwork)
Invisibility and displacement of the feminine in the landscape was initially considered through the use of photo-collage, thus the elision of landscape imagery from still photographs and video stills is made possible, (also combining high and low grade imagery), and of standing in and moving through the landscape. Historic and contemporary images of women, drawn from Eduard Manet paintings and magazine advertising were inserted into these composite landscapes. The paintings based on the photo-collages mainly use a low-key, restricted palette, reflecting their monochromatic starting points. Through a subversion of traditional approaches to painting, these iconic images, (Lola de Valence, Twiggy etc.) are rendered almost undetectable in their new landscape contexts.