In conversation: Andrew Bick & Alicia Paz, Sat 5 Sept, 3.00pm, the Bluecoat, Liverpool.
Artists Andrew Bick and Alicia Paz talk to Sara-Jayne Parsons, Exhibition Curator at the Bluecoat, about their work and participation in Slow Magic.
Featuring the work of six international artists, Slow Magic examines different approaches to contemporary painting in playful and enchanting ways. For some artists the excitement of working with paint is found in their brushstrokes, daubs, drips and smears. Applying paint in a very vigorous way often results in an expressive surface that is lively and sensuous.
The decisions made by some artists are revealed through contrasting surfaces and colours. They often concern themselves with the physical qualities of paint ahead of a need to create realistic or representational images. These abstract paintings tell stories through layers.
Other artists make paintings using marker pen, Perspex, wax, smoke or collage materials, and sometimes cut through their canvases to create visual tricks. The illusions they create make us wonder, are we looking at something real or imagined? Is a painting flat or three-dimensional? The selection of works included in the exhibition highlights that much like a conjuror; it is the artist’s sleight of hand that makes painting magical.