Fiona Estelle Blandford, A Tableau for 2010, 2010
Last Wednesday I attended Seventh Gallery's first opening of the year. The show is curated by the artist Fiona Estelle Blandford and is entitled ‘Traditional artists are priests /contemporary artists are whores’. The exhibition is a group show featuring works of the curator, Blandford, as well as of Angeliki Androutsopoulos, Anita Belia, Kelly Manning and Alice Parker. It is an investigation of the theory of ‘Expanded painting’ and the relationship between the mediums.
I particularly enjoyed the still life photographs of Blandford. I have previously met the artist at Seventh Gallery last month during their Super Sell-Out Sale and Somewhat Silent Action. Lucky me, I left with one of her prints, ‘Fox on the carpet, 2008’! For this show, Blandford’s photographs involve a series of stylised food arrangements shot in studio with a digital Hasselblad. Each print is individually lit and is pinned on black painted walls. This accentuates the contrast of the images making them luminescent. The lighting in each photograph is amazing. The photo series, ‘Still life for 2010’, featuring ‘A tableau for 2010’, explores the political and the historical references of traditional ‘still life’ painting. Having worked as a chef, Blandford’s first hand experience with food enables her to investigate our society’s indulgence and over consumption of ressources.
Fox on the carpet, 2008