SIMON CALLERY. SOFT PAINTING

The title Soft Painting aims to draw our attention to the actual physical qualities of a painting rather than acting as an introduction to an image or to suggest a narrative. Simon Callery creates paintings that communicate on a physical level. A painting can be soft or hard as much as it can be red or green.

Simon will be working in the gallery space with a selected group of Nottingham Trent BA (Hons) Fine Art students to produce a number of large-scale works. Rolls of canvas will be washed and prepared for saturation in pigmented distempers – a process where the industrial starch is removed from the canvas and the dense and highly coloured medium is washed into the softened fabric at high temperature. These worked canvasses will be hung off frames to dry before being cut up, sorted and sewn into the formal configurations of soft paintings. The resulting works will be installed in the gallery as the process unfolds to complete the show.

For the duration of this exhibition the Gallery will become a space for learning where the connections between the making, installing and exhibition of artwork are exposed. The public are invited to witness and engage with the entire process.