C108 Review

Bray: Helena Gorey at Mermaid

Helena Gorey: French vermillion, oil on canvas, 61 x 122 cm; courtesy Mermaid Arts Centre

This work evokes the pared-down precision of the Raymond Carver poem it's based on, What you need for painting. As an artist aspiring to have a collaborative or socially engaged practice, one particular line from the poem leapt out at me: the painter's imperative for "indifference to everything except your canvas." For me, it was this idea of indifference outside the bounds of the painting that set the tone of the show. Visitors' comments ranged from the predictable sure-my-son-could-do-better-than-that type to the apologetic "sorry but I just don't get it" to the hopeless "I like the carpet." I identified with many of the comments - I too "really liked the blue one."

Elegant and disciplined, systematic in their execution, the paintings highlight the play between emotion and rationality and the 'work' involved in making art that the poem hints at. I particularly liked the works on paper with the bleeds and drips of colour that had escaped under the grid of masking tape, pleasing evidence of the underpainting process and the pigment's urge to ooze away from the artist's control. However, I ultimately felt distanced from these works and their indifference. Sitting in the rectangular space, surrounded by austere panels of Rose madder, Flake white and French vermillion, I felt lonely with these paintings.

Sarah Browne is currently working on a community project and residency at the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

Helena Gorey: What You Need for Painting, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, April / May 2004