Cornelia Baltes : Turner

5 Jun-18 Jul 2015

Overview

The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art are pleased to announce ‘Turner’, a solo exhibition by Cornelia Baltes. The London and Berlin based artist will present a series of new paintings and site-specific murals around Sunderland City Library and Arts Centre. Taking the spectator on a journey throughout the building towards the gallery on the top floor, the exhibition extends Baltes’ often witty and deceptively simple paintings in the context of the multi-use public space that the NGCA is situated in. Baltes sees her paintings as protagonists, implicating the spectator and in turn shifting the gallery into a type of stage. Significantly, Baltes extends the parameters of painting, with content spilling over the frame and onto the surrounding wall. The notion of the discrete object is resisted as canvases are moulded and shaped, surfaces cut and folded to amplify their physical properties. While Baltes’ work portrays a disparate iconography her work is marked by a playful economy and astute understanding of colour.