Rachel Jordan
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This article is about the artist. For the Simpsons character see Rachel Jordan.
Rachel Jordan (born May 8, 1968) is a British artist and a member of the Stuckist art group.[1] She creates satirical figurative as well as abstract paintings, alluding to cellular forms.
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[edit] Life and career
Rachel Jordan was born in Maldon, Essex, England and attended the University of Sheffield (1986–90), where she majored in French and Hispanic Studies, then working in office jobs until 1999, while also attending a fine art course 1995–98 at the City Literary Institute, London, where her final show, The Princess Project, consisted of paintings about Princess Diana.[1] In 2000 she started work as a picture researcher for BBC Books.[1] The same year, she exhibited in the Stuckist show, The Resignation of Sir Nicholas Serota, and joined the North Kent Stuckists group.[1] She took part, dressed as a Pierrot, in the first Stuckist demonstration against the Turner Prize outside Tate Britain.[1]
In 2001, she moved from London to Chatham to live with Stuckist artist Wolf Howard, with whom she shared a studio; in 2003, she ran children's workshops in Medway galleries and schools.[1] In 2004, she was included in the Stuckists' show, The Stuckists Punk Victorian, at the Walker Art Gallery during the Liverpool Biennial.[1] She said that she is 95% recovered from ME, from which she suffered.[1]
She was a friend of Miriam Hyman, who was killed in the 7 July 2005 London bombings.[2]
[edit] Art
Jordan has painted work satirising the Tate gallery and the Turner Prize, including one painting based Martin Creed's illuminated lettering The Whole World - The Work = The Whole World, which at one time was displayed on the portico of Tate Britain (it is now in Tate Modern). Jordan's painting shows the installation at Tate Britain, but with substituted words and is called The Whole World - The Turner Prize = A Better World. She said:
- I felt incensed by Martin Creed's light going on and off in Tate Britain, but was unable to do a satirical painting of it because there was nothing there, so I did this one instead.[1]
She also creates abstract paintings with repeated patterns based on hand-drawn circle and square shapes. She said:
- I think I still have a lot of expression coming through because I use water colours, and that can be very variable in how strong or weak the colour is on the paper. I don’t try to keep the colour that consistent when I apply it. Also, I don’t use a ruler. So, if I’m doing a hexagon I don’t try to make it a totally perfect mathematical hexagon. I’m just drawing by hand, so I still regard my paintings as full and free expression. What is also unlimited is the amount and combination of colours and forms that you can have.[3]
She describes these abstracts as suggestive of "cellular life", citing influences from Paul Klee and Edward Hopper, as well as Roman mosaics, Islamic patterns, Egyptian hieroglyphics and the shapes revealed in aerial photography.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Milner, Frank ed. The Stuckists Punk Victorian, p.126, National Museums Liverpool 2004, ISBN 1-902700-27-9
- ^ Jordan, Rachel "Miriam Hyman", stuckism.com. Retrieved 31 March 2007
- ^ Campbell, Aidan "Interview - Rachel Jordan", culturewars.com, January 2004. Retrieved March 31, 2007.
- ^ "This cellular life - Rachel Jordan", BBC online, 5 October 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2007.
[edit] External links
- Rachel Jordan on the Walker Gallery web site
- Image gallery on BBC site
- Tribute by Rachel Jordan to Miriam Hyman, killed in the 7 July 2005 London bombings
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