Traces of the past

Traces of the past

3 May - 2 June 2007

Charlotte Hodes, Frank Monaco, Julie Cockburn, Natasha Kerr, Sara Beazley, Susie Needham, Tony Hull

Traces of the Past, an exhibition in which contemporary works weave the threads of memory through painting, photography, embroidery, ceramics and collage.

Sara Beazley's prints are reminiscent of stained glass windows of the Arts and Crafts era, evoking the importance of utility and beauty.

The irreproachable female characters in the paintings of Fragonard and Gainsborough are subverted by Julie Cockburn to become alluring nudes of Playboy magazines. The idyllic pastoral scenes of the paintings contrast with the stark photographic naked females who confront the viewer.

Charlotte Hodes's ceramic vases are hand painted with images of silhouettes and patterns mainly taken from archive material. Antique patterns from the Spode factory and imagery from paintings in the Wallace collection contrast the contemporary shapes.

Tony Hull uses ubiquitous motifs from our surroundings, both modern and ancient, from wallpaper to money. Traces of these patterns are veiled in his painterly many layered works where brushstrokes acquire a velvety texture.

Antique linen sheets are the base for Natasha Kerr's works. Old photographs are printed onto the sheets and are surrounded by the artist's stitching and painting forming unique works of art capturing a lost moment in time.

Historical dresses from museum collections inhabit the photograms of Susie Needham. Her technique results in a ghostly trace of the clothes and those who wore them in subtle monochrome.

Frank Monaco's photographs of Italy in the 1950s capture intimate moments and quiet domesticity: they are richly nostalgic of a vanished world and the people that inhabited it.

Fragmented Images: New Art Workd by Charlotte Hodes at The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, London W1 until 24 June