PUNCTURE is the first solo exhibition by London-based artist Abigail Brothers. Presenting a new body of sculptures and paintings Brothers probes at ideas of character and memory. Through anthropomorphic forms, abject waxy dribs and stained sheets the works appear as if they have had a life before we encounter them. They give the impression that they have been excavated or pulled from an inhospitable terrain. These transformative shapeshifters engulf materials to fuse and take on new roles as the punctured and deflated tyres become extensions of limbs or tongues. The sprawling sculptures are self-exposed as they spew out waxy gunk, hair like fibres fray out and confront us with their unapologetic starkness whereby the viewer becomes self-reflective of their own presence and body.
A relationship between the uncanny through instinctual, personal experiences is an important theme that runs concurrently through Brothers’ practice. Embedded within the anthropomorphic sculptures is a human-like essence that seems simultaneously recognisable yet unfamiliar. Flopping over, crumbling off, coated in stains, the origins of these works are unknown. It is as if they have had a life before or one that could be ignited.
Abigail Brothers graduated from Goldsmiths BA Fine Art (2016). Recent exhibitions include Take Your Eyes Off, Anderson Gallery- London (date TBC), Matter(ing), Platform Southwark – London (2019), I’m In The Bath, Where Are You, The Icing Room- London 2019), Transformer, 72s North Street- Portslade, East Sussex (2019), Direct Input, Muddy Yard Space- London and Canada (2019), Pulled From Under, Coachwerks Gallery- Brighton (2018).
The twenty five successful artists from the Open Call will each host a week-long exhibition in the Back Room.