My experience at Brendan Lyons' exhibition, 'Discreet, Discrete'.
Brendan Lyons' solo exhibition 'Discreet, Discrete' at Bridewell Studios is worth seeing. His works are made of paper rolls and towel dispensers, cassette tapes, a black bin bag, and ivy climbing on a barbed wire fence. However, most of these objects were made of acrylic paint alone, which I found fascinating, and I found beauty in these ordinary, everyday objects. The acrylic paint had been manipulated in many ways I had never seen before. It acted as an illusion, made to replicate the real thing, such as the paper towels and the cassette tapes linked to materials so commonly used in our everyday lives.
The exhibition was curated in a white cube, a space so small and with tight windows that the eye focuses only on the artworks hanging on the walls. At first, the atmosphere felt small and intimate as the other people walking around the exhibition were experiencing the same feeling I had. However, it did feel like I wasn’t meant to be there as I did find myself feeling slightly naughty even though there was nothing that I had done wrong. It just felt strange entering someone else’s space and finding myself looking around freely and analysing Brendan Lyons’ work. Because I was there expecting to be dissapointed because of my lack of enjoyment for contemporary art pieces maybe this is what had led me to feel like i didn't belong in the space.
I walked into the exhibition with a clear head, unaware of what I was about to encounter, as I went with friends who had looked into it beforehand. My initial reaction, well, I was confused as I was unsure what I would find. In front of me stood four paper roll dispensers and what looked like paper towels flowing to the ground. I immediately walked to them first as they caught my eye, and it wasn't until I had looked at it for a while that I realised that the paper roll was indeed paint, admittidley I was impressed by the idea of this alone and even more curious about the techniques used to make the acrylic paint look like it had so much fluidity in it. I really did enjoy these pieces, and it felt like a funny trick to pull on someone to put them in a bathroom when it is acrylic paint. It is quirky and would be a great installation in a house if you are into things like this.
The artwork that stood out to me the most was 'Endemical'. It was acrylic paint on muslin made to look like ivy crawling up a barbed wire fence. Each leaf had been carefully placed and made to look like real leaves. When looking at this art work i felt peace and happiness, it reminded me of old buildings that have ivy covering them. This artwork made me feel happy as I was just so lost in the fact that the artist made everything from acrylic, it looked realistic it was uncanny.
It was such a pleasure to attend this exhibition and meet Brendan Lyons to talk about the artworks .
