'Lobster', 2021. Acrylic on digital photograph on satin paper, framed in black.
We are excitedly waiting for June 3rd - the opening day of Jess Cochrane’s Solo Show titled A Woman By Any Other Name. Influenced by symbolism in 17th-century portraiture, this show will feature Cochrane’s female muses, aesthetically adorned with the traditional objects of fruit and flora found in traditional Renaissance portraiture.
This show follows her sell-out debut show Study of Woman Talking To Herself from 2019, and after a rocky year of lockdown restrictions and online shows, this new show with Jess will be a welcome return for both visitors, staff and the artist to exhibit publically again. What better way to celebrate this hopeful time, than with a brand new show by an exciting emerging artist like Cochrane? If you’re unaware of her work, Cochrane’s paintings often appropriate the symbols and motifs of traditional portraiture as a method for reclaiming the autonomy of the usually female sitter. Cochrane’s ambitious subject matter extends to the works physicality, as the works large scale demands both space and attention.
Painting over photographic images, the artist is asking us to look past what we’ve been trained to think when confronted with an image of a naked woman. The humorous positioning of the models who almost are always looking directly back at us. and their playful interaction with staged props, helps to break down the preconceptions of the female nude as being purely passive, and requires us to ask if the model is naked for our pleasure or hers? Is her gaze lustful, or indifferent?
The show will open with an official opening at our Gallery in Soho from 6-8 pm on the evening of Thursday 3rd June. Please note that advanced booking will be required for the opening night and the rest of the exhibition duration to allow for adequate social distancing. The show will be on display at the gallery until Saturday 10th July.
You can read the full press release for the show HERE.
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