James Delaney builds on arty foundations
JOBURG - Artist creates surreal new works on old paintings.
James Delaney’s upcoming solo exhibition is a collection of paintings that are, at once, both old and new.
The paintings that form Palimpsest are all pieces that Delaney revisited and reworked, adding not just another layer to the paintings, but another layer to his skills and artistic vision.
“I took works I thought were complete, from either the storeroom or my studio, and chose to build on top of them,” he said.
“The previous images on the canvases show through the new work,” he said, and added that this very process gave rise to the exhibition title.
A palimpsest is a parchment or other surface on which later writing was superimposed on earlier text that had been partially or completely effaced.
“I wanted to shift my work to another level. When I looked at my work overall, I felt I needed to push,” said Delaney.
The artist said that some of these “new” paintings inherited form from the previous work on the canvas, while others inherited colour or light.
In keeping with his previous subjects, this body of work will again present surreal landscapes and natural objects to the viewer, and again, symbols have been hidden in the paintings by the artist.
The end result of Delaney’s labour are paintings that seem to capture another level or layer within the subject; visual metaphors of the evolution of the person, of life on earth.
“I learned to allow things to grow out of the canvas, and I have started to learn the balance between guiding that, and letting go. Either of these, taken to extremes, will stunt the creative process,” said Delaney.
“It could take months before I knew the next step to take, and I would turn paintings upside down or look at them from different angles to break my predefined views.”
Delaney’s first exhibition at In Toto Gallery, Creation, saw him turn away from typical landscapes, and he said this new body of work saw him move further along that path.
“This is less about looking at a thing, and more about standing in that world, somehow being a part of that thing,” he said.
Palimpsest will run from 31 July until 1 September at In Toto Gallery, 6 Birdhaven Centre, 66 St Andrew Street, Birdhaven.
Details: 011 447 6543; www.intotogallery.co.za
