“Dressed to Kill” at VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) gallery and project space in Berlin is 81-year-old British artist Rose Wylie’s first exhibition in the German capital.As an artist who has only recently begun to receive the recognition and attention that she deserves, the show at VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) further cements her status as one of the UK’s hottest living artists.Comprising an entirely new body of paintings and related works on paper made especially for VW (VeneKlasen/Werner), “Dressed to Kill” celebrates the octogenarian’s independent spirit. Wylie works in a lively and emotive faux-naïve figural style which emerges from a working style that grounds a childlike innocence and creativity within a framework of classicism and art history.She draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources including sport, film, news headlines, the landscape of her home in rural Kent, and the events of everyday life.Working from observation and memory, Wylie creates wonderfully colour and evocative images that challenge the conventions of European figurative painting.To find out more about “Dressed to Kill,” which is at VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) until January 16, 2016, BLOUIN ARTINFO got in touch with Wylie and asked her a few questions.What is the significance of the title of your exhibition “Dressed To Kill” at VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) and what does the title reveal about the works on show?“Dressed To Kill” is an English phrase usually aimed at women when they have really gone through a lot of trouble with their appearance, not always for the best… often also to impress or seduce. Here Venus is nude, which opens up fun implications and contradictions. It also offers lots of possibilities as a subject to paint. There are three of these paintings.The exhibition comprises an entirely new body of paintings and related works on paper made especially for VW (VeneKlasen/Werner). What was the inspiration and motivation behind the new body of work?It was a challenge to do a whole body of new work, developing organically… One piece from another, to be seen together; the color for instance, was visualised as a complete ‘hang.’ So the gallery plan was the inspiration. “The Boy Meets Girls” paintings and the related drawings kicked it off with a chance spotting of a Pompeji Venus, … a black background, a pedestal, a pose, and a frame; but this Venus is altogether more seductive than the original, who on reflection is a bit of a ‘heavy.’The chocolates were a chance gift. Finding sculpture in an ‘out of art’ context has always interested me, and I have made “cosmetic-sculpture” before. The chocolates carry this idea along and included the adaptation of filmic ‘long shots’ and ‘close-ups’ in their compositions.You are repeatedly described as one of the hottest new artists of the moment. Why do you think your time in the spotlight has arrived in the last few years and what do you think is driving the recent surge in interest in your work?No idea, … Four things came together: representing Great Britain in a show in Washington (National Museum of Women in the Arts); a visit from Germaine Greer; a collaboration with Savannah Miller´s Fashion Line; and solo shows in London and New York.How do the works in “Dressed To Kill” reflect and continue the nature and characteristics of your overall practice?They reflect stuff I work with… chance, cross-cultural ‘swoops”; something new to think about.. working with my hands (“Worm, Bird and Butterfly”) … extending an idea outwards to cover a longish but related space (“Worm, Bird and Butterfly”); also having a go at a filmic devices of ‘close-up’ and ‘long shot,’ which I have done before, but given it a rest.In the past your work has been subjected to many different labels and associations. How would you describe the character and nature of your style?I don’t like imposed structures on drawing; or on thinking. What I do is to try to get back to a direct response to things and images which is what children do (they are unaffected by what you should do); and the surrealists try to do this, working with the direct and uncensored language of dreams.Process seems to be a key concept in the development and creation of your work. How does your creative process shape and influence the final work?The process of un-stretched canvas allows for flexibility of size and includes joins in and sticking of the canvas – adding to the metaphysical and physical presence of the painting… ‘freedom’ and ‘hands-on.’Direct contact is clear again in the handling and awkwardness of the ‘Light Red’ paint in “Bird, Butterfly and Worm,” with collaged found strips of canvas for correction.What is it that you want to convey and express with your paintings and how do you think this will translate to the audience in Berlin?Not sure.I hope they like them.Biography:Rose Wylie was born in Kent in 1934. She attended the Folkestone & Dover School of Art until 1956 but soon put aside her artistic ambitions to raise her children. Wylie returned to painting two decades later, resuming her art training at London’s Royal College of Art and earning her MA in 1981. Since then she has exhibited in numerous national and international solo and group exhibitions.
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