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Lacey Contemporary Gallery are proud to present a new exhibition featuring artists Lee Ellis, Christos Tsimaris and Laurence Perratzi. This exciting collaboration consists of two painters and a sculptor working within portraiture. The artists do not merely explore appearances but attempt to delve deeper, exploring and exposing their subjects psyche.
‘Scratching the Surface’ reflects a painting technique most visibly demonstrated by Christos Tsimaris. Previously painted layers are revealed as the surface of a canvas is scraped away by Tsimaris. Present workings of a portrait suddenly stand among past reflections and reveal the exploration of the painting process itself; how the painting is created in relation to its structure, composition, colour and mark making.
The title of this exhibition however, suggests more than just this painting technique. The theme of ‘Scratching the Surface’ also brings artists’ works’ together in the way that they explore the face and body, delving deep beyond the surface, and attempting to discover their subject’s psyche. The works attempt to break the mask and reveal the depths of the human condition and the disquieting human figure. Painters Lee Ellis and Christos Tsimaris’s abstract their figures; distorting heads and bodies, showing tortured expressions, and finding new modes of expressing the humanity within people. Laurence Perratzi’s more figurative sculptures show the subtle gestures of our revealing and telling expressions through body language. Her figures are self-reflecting, connecting them with the existential nature of Ellis and Tsminaris’s works. The works collectively encourage viewers to observe and discover the subjects through the scratchings of the surfaces.
Scratching the Surface will open at Lacey Contemporary Gallery on 18th May with a private view. For the guest list, enquiries or high-res images, contact tessa@laceycontemporary
Lee Ellis is an expressive artist born in Cheltenham England, who currently lives in Bristol, and has exhibited widely across the UK. A graphic design professional, Ellis is currently making the transition from part-time to full-time artist, with a number of solo and groups shows under his belt. Ellis is an artist to watch, an artist developing his bold style, producing work with wild textures and powerful marks, carving himself out as an emerging, edgy and very talented artist. Ellis aims to make the invisible visible, looking at the psychological and emotional and bringing it to the forefront.
Laurence Perratzi graduated from a French business school in 1993 and has been travelling all over the world since. She has lived in Paris, Hong Kong , San Francisco and now lives in London. She decided to move away from business in 2001 and dedicate herself to her true passion for sculpture. She started to work under the tuition of various sculptors such as Jean-Charles Mainardis, Jan Buckley and Hywell Pratley before presenting her works for the first time in Paris in 2003. Since then, Perratzi has now exhibited in a number of major London Art Fairs including the London Art Fair, The British Art Fair, Lapada, and The New Chelsea Art Fair. Perratzi is a figurative artist exploring the body’s expression. Her work is a reflection on movement strongly influenced by her athletic background where poise and balance are paramount.
Christos Tsimaris studied in Thessaloniki, Greece, later studying European Fine Art at Winchester, England and has since internationally exhibited his works in Spain, Germany, Greece and England. Tsimaris seeks to go beyond the discipline of representational art and gestural expressionism. The process of layering and scraping bring about chance and accidents in the paintings which explore the artist’s interests in how the painting is created in terms of structure, composition, colour and mark making, rather than focussing solely on what it represents.
Lacey Contemporary Gallery
