Charleston in East Sussex presents a compelling exhibition of new works by South African-born artist Lisa Brice, exploring the evolving dynamics between artist and model.
With echoes of artists such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso, Lisa Brice’s work challenges, reinterprets and takes ownership of traditional depictions of the female nude and interrogates the male gaze which has dominated Western art for centuries. The paintings resonated deeply with the concurrent exhibition of Nina Hamnett’s work which similarly addressed the historic relationship between artist and model.
Brice’s paintings are vivid and bold. She uses layered brush strokes that capture her figures in snapshots of action. They bring an energy to her subjects giving them agency and self-possession.
By painting her figures in rich blues Brice adds to their ambiguity. It makes it difficult to define the age or ethnicity of her subjects and as such discourages an easy ‘read’ of the female form. The hierarchy between the artist and their model in the studio is broken down. In Brice’s works the female figure is both – concerned only with the moment, her medium, but mostly herself.
The exhibition runs from 19 May–30 August 2021.
