PRESS RELEASE
1982, Queen Alexandra Road. Pencil and watercolour on paper, 2014. 60 x 60cms
CATHY STOCKER: Sitting still for Cathy
4th September – 28th September 2014
Lauderdale House is pleased to present a new exhibition of work by Cathy Stocker.
This will be her 2nd solo show at Lauderdale House and first exhibition of portraits.
Cathy Stocker was born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire in 1965. She studied at
Amersham College of Art and Design and Leeds Polytechnic (Metropolitan
University), graduating in 1988 with a B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art. Cathy has exhibited in
the United Kingdom and Finland. In 2011, she was the Pride in the House winner at
Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park, Highgate, London, the venue for the current
exhibition. She lives and works from her studio in North London.
Stocker’s current concern is with the creation of portraiture, inspired by David
Hockney’s large-format drawings of Family, Friends and Best Friends, at Salts Mill in
1994, her solo exhibition is a series of drawings from life, in a single sitting of friends
and family.
Stocker remarks, “In this series I am interested in trying to see how much I feel and
understand the person. How well I know them. Intensifying reality and truly
representing the life that ‘I’ see.”
Aspiring to capture the senses of the viewer whilst intensifying the reality of the
subject, Stocker works directly from life instead of copying from reproduced work; this
method is essential in her working practice.
The sparse use of line and deliberate position of the sitter echo the work of an Old
Master, Hans Holbein the Younger. Even though the gap spans some five hundred
years, viewers of Stocker’s work have commented upon a connection between old
master and contemporary artist. This is something Stocker has since taken time to
acknowledge by recently studying the original Holbein Drawings first hand at the
Royal Print Room, Windsor Castle.
“I was unaware about the relevance of Hans Holbein the Younger’s portrait drawings
(as artist to the Royal court of King Henry VIII), whilst making the majority of my
work. As associations/references kept being mentioned by different people, it started
to become something I couldn’t ignore. I thought it only right to study the Holbein
drawings first hand, to have an appropriate response to such declarations”.
The work will be hung in a particular order, but will break with the habitual form of
labelling, with the information that is customary to accompany works dispensed of
(i.e. the name of the subject/sitter). Instead, each work is accompanied by a date and
a road name. The intention of presenting the work without the subject’s name is to
allow the viewer to investigate the relationship between sitter and artist.
The two oil paintings in the exhibition (Ref ‘Untitled’) are a natural progression from
the drawings, but not intended to be ‘copies’. By working directly from the drawings,
Stocker’s aim was to discover something new about these characters. The features
seem to be youthful, which was unintentional.
"When you meet a person for the first time, sometimes we store that primary image
of their face in our minds. Is it possible then that the initial encounter and snapshot of
their face and how that describes their persona is the portrait that stays with you over
the years? A single essence, extracted in a moment and preserved over time."
- Notes for Editors -
Exhibition: CATHY STOCKER: Sitting still for Cathy
Exhibition Dates: 4th September – 28 September 2014
Opening Times: Wednesday – Friday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Sunday 11.00 am – 5.00pm
Private View: 04 September 7.30-9.00pm (All welcome)
Venue: Upper Gallery and Long Gallery, Lauderdale House, Waterlow
Park, Highgate Hill, London N6 5HG
Telephone: 020 8348 8716
Admission: Free
Website: www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk
Nearest tubes: Archway / Highgate
Buses: 143 - 210 - 214 - 271 – 603
Press contact: Alana Pryce Tojcic - email: info@alanapryce.co.uk
Website: www.cathystocker.com
Email: cathy@cathystocker.com