Artist interview with Grace O’Connor discussing her series; Scenes from a Marriage.
GRACE O'CONNOR AND MAEVE DOYLE IN CONVERSATION
GRACE O'CONNOR, MAEVE DOYLE
If you missed the live talk you can catch up on the conversation below.
Art Critic Maeve Doyle and American artist Grace O’Connor discuss Scenes from a Marriage. A series of 40 paintings made over two years by Grace O’Connor interpret the thwarted love story between Edward James (1907-1984) and Tilly Losch (1903-1975) previewed in part at the London Art Fair by Candida Stevens Gallery.
MAEVE DOYLE
GRACE O’CONNOR
PANELLISTS:
GRACE O’CONNOR: Grace O’Connor came to the UK from Connecticut in the early 90’s and was self taught before being offered a place at the Royal Academy Schools. Grace has been awarded numerous prizes including her first at age 19 for the Hunting Prize, Young Artist of the Year. Grace’s work has been selected for prestigious exhibitions such as the John Moores Prize, the BP Portrait Awards, The Royal Academy Summer Show, The Jerwood Drawing Prize and the Drawing Room Biennial. ‘Scenes from a Marriage’ will be Grace’s eighth solo exhibition.
MAEVE DOYLE: Maeve Doyle is an internationally renowned curator, the artistic director of Maddox Gallery and a broadcaster. She is BBC Radio’s art correspondent and the host of ‘a private view with Maeve Doyle’ on SoHo radio’s culture channel. Maeve studied at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, Canada, and was the owner of London gallery, Doyle Devere, and was at the helm of Mayfair’s infamous Bankrobber Gallery which was responsible for the sale of the Banksy mural ‘slave labour’ and ‘girl with balloon’.
Folk Art: A look at our cultural heritage, our communities and our identity, and how we choose to express this knowledge and pass it on as inspiration.
According to UNESCO: Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.
Culture and its heritage reflect and shape values, beliefs, and aspirations, thereby defining a people’s national identity. It is important to preserve our cultural heritage, because it keeps our integrity as a people. Folk Art is rooted in traditions that come from community and culture. Artists working in the Folk tradition today are telling stories, they are passing on inherited legacies, symbols, characters. The objects may be decorative when once they would have been utilitarian, but the passing on of knowledge remains the same.
Meet some of the artists involved in this years’ Platform showcase, Abe Odedina, Carol McNichol, Cecilia Charlton, Denise de Cordova and Frances Priest.
