Art / Emily Powell
Emily Powell exhibition comes to Clifton gallery
Over the past year contemporary colourist painter Emily Powell has risen to prominence as an important emerging female artist working in the UK.
Her style is recognisable for its childlike exuberance, and her personal iconography, which most often features tigers, symbolising joy, daring and exploration.
Recent commissions include painting a vibrant mural on the doors of Great Ormond Street Hospital, adorning a giant egg in Sloane Square to mark the Queen’s Jubilee, and multiple brand collaborations.
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Emily Powell at work
Emily Powell, Tigers over the Mount (2022)
2022 also heralded the publication of Powell’s debut book, Start Painting Now – written in conjunction with her sister, Dr Sarah Moore – and the birth of her first child.
The contemporary Cornish art gallery Livingstone St Ives is hosting Powell’s touring exhibition The Year of The Tiger, Part II in its third gallery space at The Mall, Clifton (Part I was launched at Westcott’s Quay, St Ives in June 2022, and Part III will be in London, with details yet to be announced).
The collection will be on show from September 10, when visitors can attend a private view (by appointment) with book-signing and a chance to meet the artist.
“These paintings are all about my life from lockdown to becoming a parent, as well as having a political element with the events in Ukraine,” reflects Powell. “I painted one lampshade every day whilst (baby) Bea was sleeping, even in five-minute bursts. There was no way I could keep all that in: I had to paint it out each evening.”
Emily Powell, You Are Doing Good (2022)
Sisters Dr Sarah Moore and Emily Powell in front of Powell’s mural on the doors of Great Ormond Street Hospital
For gallery director Alicia Livingstone, Powell’s work “explodes with creativity”, being free from the restrictions of painting only on paper and canvas.
“She paints on what is around her – tables, trays, lampshades, even her garden shed.
“This is the ethos of folk art, to beautify objects of everyday ritual, imbuing them with significance and celebrating those small, everyday items which form your lived experience.”
Following the launch of the exhibition, when Powell will be live-painting amongst her work, she will take up a week-long studio residency in the gallery, creating paintings inspired by the landscapes of Bristol – both contemporary and historical.
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Emily Powell: The Year of The Tiger, Part II is at Livingstone St Ives, 30 The Mall, Clifton, from September 10. For more information about the exhibition and for details of how to attend the private view, visit www.livingstonestives.co.uk.
All photos: Courtesy of Emily Powell/Livingstone St Ives
Read more: Make Bristol launch new home for ceramics and creative events in the heart of Bedminster
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