About the exhibit - Doublethink
Doublethink opened at Simon Lee Gallery on September 6th, 2019. It’s crazy to think this was woods first show with the gallery, given how she knocked it out of the park.
So what’s up with the name? The term ‘Doublethink’ was created by George Orwell (author of the famous 1984), and means “the ability to believe two contradictory things at once or to believe outright lies despite also knowing facts that prove them to be untrue.”
“Defamiliarising the everyday, Woods probes the boundaries of figuration to challenge her audience’s experiences of fear, anxiety and the fundamentally destructive impulses of humankind.” -- Simon Lee (Press Release)
“Woods derives inspiration from found photographic sources such as newspaper clippings, magazines, and other diverse sources of visual ephemera that depict unsettling and often transgressive imagery.” - Simon Lee (Press Release)
“Woods often uses found photography as source material and is adept at gingering up tired clichés” - The Quietus (source)
If you’re thinking what I’m thinking...How do these works have an almost supernatural sheen to them? - it’s because Woods has applied oil paint to aluminum instead of the traditional canvas.
About the Artist
Clare Woods is a British artist represented by Simon Lee. She was originally trained as a sculpture but then later shifted to painting.
“Much of Wood’s recent work is concerned with fragility, vulnerability, mortality and disability; the delicate border that exists between sickness and health, cruelty and humanity, and ultimately life and death.” - Simon Lee (source)
Woods is also famous for Carpenter's Curve, an 80 meter long tile work on permanent display at London's Olympic Park. See here.
She lives and works in the U.K. and you can follow her on Instagram @clarewoodsstudio
