Tristan Hoare is delighted to present Too Close to Me, Sydney Albertini’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. Too Close to Me presents a new body of work created by Albertini over the past two years, following a series of recent surgeries and exploring the healing process that followed. Albertini's new Glass and Standing Woman series incorporate elements of her earlier Movement works while pushing the boundaries of the picture plane. The artist takes the viewer on a journey from the initial shock of the body malfunctioning to recovery, while immersing them in patterns of her imaginary textiles and landscapes.
The exhibition’s focal point is Resting Woman, a large two-panel painting which bears Albertini’s signature patterned textiles, usually appearing to fall off the canvas, but here given structure by the resting figure; its abdomen, torso and head concealed by the jarring black and orange checkered fabric, the legs tucked and one arm resting on its stomach in a protective pose. This figure’s entire universe has become the sofa she reclines on, the fabric enveloping the whole picture plane, leaving no negative space or room to breathe. The cherry textile is reminiscent of a summer garden, a real place that Albertini looked out on during her recovery, a physical landscape which becomes a part of her immediate surroundings in the form of the spread she rests on. This eventually evolves into the Standing Woman series, upright figures caught in various stages of undressing, throwing off the textiles that conceal them. Unlike the Resting Woman who appears enveloped by the drapery that surrounds her, the Standing Woman stands tall and strong and is in control of the textile that has been concealing her.
In this body of work, Albertini builds a language of patterns, which she mixes and matches the way a musician would combine notes to create compositions. In fact, Albertini’s new series of Glass works is inspired by the music of Philip Glass. The repetitiveness of Glass’s notes is echoed in Albertini’s use of recurring patterns, as well as the frantic and twisting movement of the compositions, reminiscent of written musical notes, or of an ECG machine recording the rhythm of a patient’s heartbeat. The works have a new intensity, as the drapery takes over the entire picture plane, leaving no room for anything else. Albertini paints this series of works with both her hands, the way Glass would play his compositions on the piano.
Too Close to Me is a visual manifestation of Albertini’s inner world, inspired by music, memories, her physical and psychological state, and is the result of close study of sights and sounds that one often takes for granted. Albertini explores her immediate surroundings with the same care and attention which one would bestow on a new and unfamiliar environment. Viewers are invited to immerse themselves in Albertini’s vibrant inner world in Fitzroy Square between the 4th and 31st July.
