ARTIST LISA BRICE

Absolutely obsessed with the cobalt blue art works by Lisa Brice , a South-African born, London-based artist (1968) who has spent extended periods of time living and working in Trinidad, ( and the inspiration is evident in her work).

Brice captures women in moments of down-time, engaged in a private world, performing everyday rituals. Her work reverses the traditional portrayal of passive female figures by male artists for male viewers and returns power to the women involved. They appear to display themselves on their own terms and for their own pleasure, forcing the viewer to confront their status as an intruder rather than a benign voyeur. The women’s poses often nod to art historical sources, such as the work of Degas, Manet, Picasso and Vallotton, meanwhile several paintings draw on or respond to Tate’s collection, including John Everett Millais’ Ophelia.

The artist began her series of female nudes in 2014. “I painted a group of 60 continuously day and night for a month,” she says. “Eventually they grew into a small army of feminine figures.”

She chose the specific blue because of its associations, “from the glow of blue neon signs to the fleeting colour of twilight, to the Trinidadian ‘blue devil’ carnival character”. Brice herself explains that In her painting process, she is constantly circumnavigating a didactic reading, erasing, replacing, repositioning.

Here’s a fantastic article that goes in depth of her work.

https://filthydreams.org/2017/10/27/strange-what-love-does-lisa-brices-boundary-girl/

Lisa Brice runs from today until 27 August 2018 at Tate Britain. To find out more, visit tate.org.uk.

Cover Photo Lisa Brice in her London studio, 2017 - by Adam Davies