A Most Awkward Divide (All Mind, No Body)

 Ruth Fox

A Most Awkward Divide (All Mind, No Body)

A solo exhibition featuring mixed media art and sound at

Gallery 46, Whitechapel, 21st - 27th September 2017

“We’re not losing our minds, its our bodies we’ve lost touch with.”

With it now being possible to upload our minds separately from our bodies, and with developments of AI and

robots questioning the role of the human body, mixed media contemporary artist, Ruth Fox’s new works

explore the growing mind-body divide prevalent in the Western World and its effect on our individual physical

identities. A heady mix of science, technology and the way we live ‘online’ could mean this awkward divide is

set to snowball.

Drawing from her own experiences of an uncomfortable separation between mind and body, Ruth Fox began to

explore Dualism, Physicalism and the philosophical ‘mind-body problem.’ Using a variety of life models, she

gives a voice to the lines and contours of their bodies.

Applying fabric paint, oil pastel and embroidery threads on to fabric, neoprene and denim-stretched canvases,

Ruth Fox’s expressive lines are exhaustive and obsessive, yet find power in their repetition. Whilst some of the

lines echo a fragmented, awkward divide between the two seemingly abstract concepts of mind and body -

expressing the dissonance felt when our bodies are out of sync with the signals in our minds, and just how easily

our minds often usurp any time we give to the body - some of the lines seek harmony through an ebb and flow

between one other.

Ruth Fox’s artworks ultimately act as a form of propaganda aimed at generating a reconnection with our

physical selves, and as a faithful reminder of our bodies being “the most reliable homes we may ever

know.” Acknowledging the increasing foreign relationship we have with our bodies, the artworks highlight the

significance of seeking a reconnection between the two.

'Sounds of My Skin' - collaboration with singer/songwriter Steven Young

Another part of the exhibition will feature a piece of music (which will be sold on a limited edition vinyl of 30)

made up of 15 sounds of the artist’s skin (tapping, stroking, hitting, flicking) which have been manipulated and

distorted by Steven Young to become a piece of music which mimics the disjointed, disconnected nature of

bodies, before offering a calming, soothing end, an ode to our reconnection with them. Each of these skin

sounds is individually translated visually, on a 25 x 25cm canvas to form a canvas wall featuring 15 of these

canvases to mimic the piece of music.

 - Ends -

About Ruth Fox

Ruth Fox is British artist who lives and works from her studio in Aldgate, East London. Born in Hertfordshire,

she studied a Foundation course at Central St Martins before studying a BA Hons in English and Cultural

Studies at Exeter. She has exhibited in group shows in London and Cologne to date, and will also be exhibiting

during Frieze Week at Le Dame Gallery and at Regent's Park underground station as part of the Art Below

project and exhibition.

About Steven Young

Steven Young is a musician and master of modern psychedelia. He is playing songs from his debut album,

Movable Feast on the main stage at The Big Feastival this year. Last year he played guitar and vocals on tour

with UNKLE and is working on projects with New York-based band, Black Onassis. He is set to launch his

second album, Grandella, in 2018.

Gallery Address:

Gallery 46

46 Ashfield St, Whitechapel, London E1 2AJ

www.gallery46.co.uk

 Opening hours:

Tues - Fri: 12 - 7pm; Sat 12 - 6pm

Private view: 21st September, 6:30 - 9:30pm