Exhibitions: Nicola Tyson

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The Review - FEATURE
Published:6 february 2009

Left: Nicola Tyson Laurie, 2008 oil on canvas
193 x 152.5 x 4cm

Copyright Nicola Tyson; courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London

Body images of our transient existence

NICOLA TYSON
Sadie Coles At South Audley Street

“THESE paintings are images of the body in terms, not of one’s own subjectivity, but in terms of another, observing subjectivity.”
This is one critic’s view of some of Nicola Tyson’s work, contained in a gallery news release. It goes on:
“In painting the sensations of the self rather than its visual gestalt, Tyson may seem to come close to Expressionism – and the distortions of the features of the neurologist’s homunculus also recall Expressionism, in that case as a sort of unintentional pastiche – but the difference is that Tyson does not appeal to pure subjectivism, as one might imagine would be the case with an art that depicts corporeal experience from the inside out…”
If you want to see for yourself what Nicola Tyson’s art actually looks like, go along to this exhibition.
Put simply, she paints people doing strange things with their bodies.
Some poses appear torturous and it’s unclear whether they’re supposed to be a comment on restricitive “body norms” or a comedy riff on our funny bits. Some are saucy and others are repellent. Sound like a game of twister?
You’ll probably raise an eyebrow or two trying them out but it might help you get into it.
* Nicola Tyson
at Sadie Coles At South Audley Street,
69 South Audley Street, W1. Until February 14.

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