A painting by Rose Wylie, titled Spider, dated 2019.
A painting by Rose Wylie, titled Spider, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie: painting a noun...

In the interest of public health, the Hong Kong gallery is closed through Tuesday, February 18.

David Zwirner is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by British artist Rose Wylie—her first solo presentation in Hong Kong. painting a noun… will include several groups of related paintings and drawings that collectively underscore the importance of memory—as both a fixed and a shifting concept—within the artist’s practice. 

Drawing from such wide-ranging cultural arenas as film, fashion photography, literature, mythology, history, news images, and sports, Wylie paints colorful and exuberant compositions that are uniquely recognizable. Frequently using images as a prompt, the artist works primarily from memory, resulting in paintings and drawings that are replete with associative afterimages that remain only loosely tethered to their original referents, but tightly connected to the memories as they have developed over time. In this respect, drawing is an important aspect of Wylie’s practice—once she has selected an image or a topic, she typically makes numerous drawings on that theme as a kind of mnemonic exercise from which her paintings eventually emerge.

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Image: Rose Wylie, Spider, 2019 (detail) 

Location
5–6/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong
Dates
January 9—February 22, 2020
Opening Reception
Thursday, January 9, 6–8 PM
Artist
Rose Wylie
Press Release
painting a noun...

“If it’s the same old thing, you get the same old answer.” —Rose Wylie, 2019

An oil painting by Rose Wylie titled, Girl in Tights, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Girl in Tights, 2019
Oil on canvas

79 3/4 x 66 3/8 inches (202.5 x 168.5 cm)

“Wylie is always responsive to the currents of the contemporary world around her…. Her engagement with the ‘real’ world is in a style that is direct, honest and at times uncomfortable…. The paintings often offer social commentary—for example, the representation of women in the media—or touch upon pertinent issues in current affairs.” —Clarrie Wallace

Wylie selects her subjects based on how an image—which might come from the internet, a book, or a film—affects her, for example by triggering certain associations or feelings, or striking her as a symptom of contemporary culture. She deliberately chooses subjects that are easily recognizable or familiar—from football stars to celebrities on the red carpet and items in the news. Once registered in the artist’s mind, these images can be realized anew through the process of painting. 

An oil painting in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Glamour Girl Stereotype, Shades and Lashes, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Glamour Girl Stereotype, Shades and Lashes, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

72 1/2 x 127 1/2 inches (184 x 324 cm)

An oil painting in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Mexican Can, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Mexican Can, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

79 1/2 x 128 7/8 inches (202 x 327.5 cm)

“She draws to achieve a certain likeness to the subject and then paints,” Clarrie Wallace says. “Each painting is planned in great detail, and her particular working methods allow for interpretations and reinterpretations that lend themselves to second thoughts, corrections, re-drawings and re-orderings so that there is a certain nonchalance present in the final work.”


As a result, the artist explains, “The viewer can see a connection in the transformation, which will have taken place… And with the ‘known’ subjects the painting taps into a shared consciousness rather than the private and closed world of the artist.”

“Wylie uses a levelling of perspective, awkward composition and unruly scale, so that no line or gesture is granted more importance than the next, which delivers and enthralling freedom for the viewer. The eye has to re-learn where to go. It has to renavigate the rules of representation by examining how she resurrects subjects to convey her own, very different and idiosyncratic reality.” —Cherry Smyth

An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Clay Court, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Serena (Clay Court) , 2019
Oil on canvas

72 x 65 3/8 inches (183 x 166 cm)

“What unites Wylie’s output is a kind of anarchic and satirical attitude or world view, a tongue-in-cheek, subversive spirit that has little time for stuffy hierarchies or bourgeois conventions…. [Her] work is tempered by wit and an acceptance of the world as it is; her paintings reflect how we react and reason in our struggle to make sense of it all.” —Clarrie Wallace

An oil painting by Rose Wylie titled, Girl in Tights, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Girl in Tights, 2019
Oil on canvas

79 3/4 x 66 3/8 inches (202.5 x 168.5 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie titled Spider, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Spider, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

72 x 120 1/2 inches (183 x 306 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie titled Brown Haired Girl in Tights with Lights, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Brown Haired Girl in Tights with Lights, 2019
Oil on canvas

71 7/8 x 64 7/8 inches (182.5 x 165 cm)

A series of paintings by Rose Wylie, titled Drab Ant Work - RW in evening dress, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Drab Ant Work - RW in evening dress, 2019
Oil on canvas in six (6) parts

Each: 71 5/8 x 58 5/8 inches (182 x 149 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie titled Blondie Spider, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Blondie Spider, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

72 x 116 1/8 inches (183 x 295 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie titled Me and My Frock, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Me and My Frock, 2019
Coloured pencil, marker and collage on envelope and paper

11 5/8 x 8 1/4 inches (29.6 x 21.1 cm)

Framed: 17 1/2 x 13 7/8 inches (44.4 x 35.4 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled NAFF Bride, advertisement, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

NAFF Bride, advertisement, 2019
Ballpoint pen, coloured pencil and collage on a diary page

9 7/8 x 7 1/4 inches (25 x 18.5 cm)

Framed: 15 1/2 x 12 7/8 inches (39.4 x 32.8 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled Small Black Serena, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Small Black Serena, 2019
Ballpoint pen, pencil, coloured pencil and collage paper

7 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches (19.2 x 17 cm)

Framed: 14 7/8 x 13 7/8 inches (37.7 x 35.4 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled Orange Spider, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Orange Spider, 2019
Ballpoint pen, pencil, coloured pencil and collage paper

8 3/8 x 5 3/8 inches (21.3 x 13.5 cm) 

Framed: 12 3/8 x 15 1/2 inches (31.4 x 39.5 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled Shades and Lashes, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Shades and Lashes, 2019
Pencil, coloured pencil and collage on paper

9 7/8 x 14 5/8 inches (25.2 x 37.2 cm)

Framed: 15 5/8 x 20 1/4 inches (39.6 x 51.4 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie, titled Leaning Trees in Spring, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Leaning Trees in Spring, 2019
Oil on canvas

78 3/8 x 72 inches (199 x 183 cm)

An oil painting in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Glamour Girl Stereotype, Shades and Lashes, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Glamour Girl Stereotype, Shades and Lashes, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

72 1/2 x 127 1/2 inches (184 x 324 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie, titled Small Serena, Get a Grip, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Small Serena, Get a Grip, 2019
Oil on canvas

72 1/2 x 61 inches (184 x 155 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie, titled Serena, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Serena, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

72 1/4 x 132 7/8 inches (183.5 x 337.8 cm)

An oil painting in two parts by Rose Wylie, titled Mexican Can, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Mexican Can, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

79 1/2 x 128 7/8 inches (202 x 327.5 cm)

An oil painting on canvas by Rose Wylie, titled Clay Court, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Serena (Clay Court) , 2019
Oil on canvas

72 x 65 3/8 inches (183 x 166 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled Brown Haired Girl in Tights, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Brown Haired Girl in Tights, 2019
Ballpoint pen, coloured pencil, marker and collage on paper

12 3/8 x 8 1/2 inches (31.4 x 21.6 cm)

Framed: 18 1/8 x 14 1/8 inches (45.9 x 35.9 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled Leaning Trees, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Leaning Trees, 2019
Ballpoint pen, pencil, coloured pencil, marker and collage on paper

15 3/4 x 13 1/4 inches (40.1 x 33.5 cm)

Framed: 21 1/4 x 18 3/4 inches (53.9 x 47.6 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wylie, titled Blondie Spider, Manga, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Blondie Spider, Manga, 2019
Ballpoint pen, coloured pencil, marker and collage on paper

12 x 9 1/2 inches (30.5 x 24.1 cm)

Framed: 17 5/8 x 15 1/8 inches (44.9 x 38.4 cm)

A painting by Rose Wylie, titled Naff Bride, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Naff Bride, 2019
Oil on canvas in two (2) parts

72 x 125 inches (183 x 317.5 cm)

A work on paper by Rose Wiley, titled Mexican Can, dated 2019.

Rose Wylie

Mexican Can, 2019
Pen, coloured pencil, marker and collage on paper

12 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches (32.5 x 31.7 cm)

Framed: 18 1/8 x 18 1/4 inches (45.9 x 46.4 cm)

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          painting a noun...

          Rose Wylie

            Rose Wylie

            painting a noun...

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