Claudia De Grandi

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A Decorative Iconography: Recent Works by Claudia de Grandi
Recent paintings and drawings by Claudia abound with tropical imagery, paying homage both to her Brazilian roots as well as a recent trip to the islands around Fiji. Yet alongside this exoticism there can also be seen the influence of the British landscape that she now calls home.

The juxtaposition of a Brazilian sensibility and the pictorial language with 20th Century European art has produced what could be called a 'hybrid' style in Claudia's work. Occurrences such as these are not necessarily deliberate but could be seen as necessary, as in the work of another Brazilian artist, Beatriz Milhazes. Milhazes has discussed her passion for European art, particularly the work of Matisse, but has also insisted on the primacy of her 'uneuropean' roots and ethnicity. As a Brazilian it would seem unlikely to be able to dodge the power of the exotic.

Selected vistas from both Claudia's histories, personal and cultural, allow this hybrid style to explore her different experiences and responses in an unashamedly decorative painting language. It has also influenced her artistic practice and processes. Like Milhazes, Claudia draws and erases directly onto the canvas, simultaneously building and erasing earlier images and thoughts. It is about editing - to edit something into shape - to adjust it. The end result is a body of work that makes references to primitivism and mythology through a poetic, decorative style. There is a lyrical use of forms and letters, a borrowing of motifs from both graphic design and calligraphy. These compositional devices act to blur the relationship between drawing and painting and emphasis the compositional formality of mark making. The American artist Cy Twombly also used these devices and interestingly was employed as a cryptographer during the Second World War.

As Claudia's work has developed, the balance of composition has undoubtedly increased, as has her exploration of different techniques, in an attempt to capture her thought processes. The inclusion of images from commercial typography and popular culture create harmony here in their juxtaposition, not conflict. They echo, in fact, the harmony that can exist between figurative representation and pure abstraction. The assemblages may seem random painterly applications on the canvas, but they are definitely not, and to see them as such would be a mistake.

The decorative element also dominates here and reminds us, as in the work of many contemporary artists, of the homage owed to Matisse for the breaking down of the established pictorial order between figure and background, resulting in a more organic quality. Playful and pleasurable.

The notion of the garden is also significant in Claudia's work. The garden represents many things. In painterly terms it is a chance to order nature and allow us to 'control' the natural world. In the British psyche, this fascination also depicts idyll and ownership. But gardens also represent a spiritual order, a place to recapture or retreat into. In the garden the tyranny of the right angle is abolished, the lines become curved and therefore decorative. In Claudia's work the decorative narrative is not merely an accessory, gratuitous and unimportant but is instead used to produce work of considerable beauty.

Lisa Pharoah June 2008
Biography & Exhibitions

Born: 1966 Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Lives and works in the UK

Education:
2009: MA Theory and Practice in Transnational Art, University of the Arts London - Camberwell
2008: BA Fine Art (Hons) Fine Art, University of Greenwhich
1989: BEd Physical Education and Sports (Hons) Methodist University of Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions:
2011: Painting & Sculpture Exhibition, Candid Arts, London
2009: Indian Summer Exhibition, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, Hastings, East Sussex
2008: The September Art Exhibition, Wadhurst, East Sussex
2007: 'TropicaLand' Digital Moving Image installation at the Panic Room Gallery, Kent
2006: 'evoking dance' Site Specific Performance at the Winter Garden, Greenwich, London
2005: Site Specific installation for the Battle Abbey Performing Art Centre, Battle, E. Sussex


Group Exhibition:
2009: MA Group Exhibition, Camberwell College, Wilson Road, London (Information)
2008: Degree Show, Empire Gallery, Vyner Street, London
2008: Degree Show, Ashurst Studios, West Kent College Campus, Tonbridge, Kent
2007: BA Contemporary Drawing, West Kent College, Kent
2007: 'Nine Degrees' BA group show, Chequer Mead Gallery, East Grinstead
2006: HND Final Show, Ashurst Studios, West Kent College, Tonbridge, Kent
2005: Studio Exhibition, Bayham Studios, Sandhurst, Kent