Matrix: a printing surface such as woodblock, linoleum block, metal plate, lithographic stone, or a mesh screen. Most, though not all, matrices are able to print the same image many times.

Transfer.

This exhibition holds a suite of work that represents Julie May's artistic progression so far. Her works register nuances and aspects of the surrounding through the tool of printmaking and painting, such as sounds, insects, symbols, notes, and power, thus physicalising all these things.

In Nature’s Vibrato transcends artist Julie May’s work as more than just images. They are related to touch sensation, and perception. As a printmaker, May endeavoured to extend the nature under which printmaking might exists, through meticulous experimentation, including tonal shifts in blended metal plates and alchemic processes. There is a certain amount of waiting that comes with printmaking, making it a monotony, quiet, yet undeniably graceful. The artist familiarises herself with her materials, observing details to depict the unexpected, to embody life as it is, sometimes disciplined, but mostly organic.

At NEWWW, May presents an ambient series of work, not exclusive to prints, but extending to paintings, video, and installation. By arranging, juxtaposing and combining rich colour layers, her work focuses on the permeability of surfaces, like music, they are fluid and unfixed.

“The next morning a frightful spectacle awaited me. When I reached the back of the wash-house, I found a glass overturned, the ladybugs gone and the bat, though still half-alive, bristling with frenzied ants, its tortured little face exposing tiny teeth like an old woman’s.”

Through changes in observation and perspective, even the smallest creature can reveal unexpected strength. In his 1942 autobiography, “The Secret Life of Salvador Dali”, surrealist painter Salvador Dalí hinted at how the blend of attraction and repulsion from insects has inspired him. Similarly, Julie May draws inspiration from her own fascination with ants, contemplating the dichotomy of fear and desire that coexists in life. Here, ants connect with alternative routes to pleasure, alongside the potential for destruction. She explores the intimate qualities of etching, weaving together the idea that fear and desire are at the root of each other. The more desires one upholds, the greater the fear that those desires will remain unfulfilled. “Never Miss the Honey” communicates a quiet obsession, depicting the power dynamics Julie May observed in ants, as well as in people.

This series of work contains fragments of mysterious and erotic undertone. Through printmaking and raw materiality the artist seeks to articulate the enduring relationship within body politics. 'Blue Body' showcases a series of etchings, dry-points, silkscreen, painting, video and installation. Through concealed textures and peculiar motifs, the core of the exhibition is about vulnerability and visibility, embracing the fear that many artists have endured in their career, which is often overlooked, but heroic.

NOV 23 - DEC 21 2024
BJOY IMAGE GALLERY, XIAMEN CITY

N+ Sick Collection

The Underground Rules of The Garage are simple - it is what it is. Unbridled, unpolished, unconventional, The Garage is a space for all kinds of renegades. We’re talking about doing things our way. So, about your damn rules? Forget about it.

This is a freaky, messy, chaotic takeover. We never promised clean nor perfect. This is about getting our hands dirty, pumping ink into our skin, having paint splattered all over. Sorry if you’re looking for big name curators, blue chip artists, and a glossy white cube. You’re just not going to find it here. What you’ll find is raw, rough creativity parked right up in this old Chungking Mansions basement lot. For one month, painters, illustrators, calligraphers, photographers, performers, we drift together and let our freak flags fly. We experiment and create whatever, whenever, with whomever.

MAY 24 - JUNE 23
The Garage, Heath, Hong Kong