Isaac Aldridge
Degree: MLitt Painting
University: Glasgow School of Art
Graduation Year: 2022
New Blood Art Commentary
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How should a painting ‘hang together’? Isaac Aldridge takes our suppositions and splices them in these idiosyncratic paintings. Perhaps the use of colour is the way in to understanding them: rebellious, unexpected and uniquely coherent. Take ‘She Lured Me In And Swallowed Me Whole’. Beginning with this curious title we then meet a classical silhouette, which is calibrated to stand in relief against the background while calling into question notions of surface and depth.
The intense blues of this background demonstrate the signature commitment to visual pleasure in this artist’s palette. In ‘Fish Friday, The Fire in Our Bellies’ Aldridge again manages to combine irreverence with mythical undertones and emotional resonance; ‘Cut the Grass OK Fine’ uses a collage technique in painting to this effect. Leave your assumptions behind and know that fine art need not be without a bit (a lot) of fun.
Artist Statement
Manifesto: Heads; Plants; Words and Green variations. + pink
Amplifying and articulating subtleties with a desire to reflect the Postdigital, Isaac investigates translation and mistranslation through audio-visual production and a playful; self-imposed setting of rules
Redefining the value of an image through enhancing the slippage of imagery; surface and process whereby visual-bonds act as reflective debris to offer individuals a biting point, and begins to set its own demands of appreciation
Group Exhibitions
(2023) Winter Open Call- Togetherness, D31 Gallery, Doncaster
(2022) Shrewn Taboos, The Barnes Garage, Glasgow
(2022) Winter Auction- Art on a postcard, The Bomb Factory Foundation, London
(2022) Accessible Art Show, Black White Gallery, London
(2022) Graduate Show, D31 Gallery, Doncaster
(2022) Winter Show, artpistol Gallery, Glasgow
(2022) Sonnet Eyes, GSA Stow Building, Glasgow
(2022) GOOD LIFE, Glasgow Botanic Gardens, Glasgow
(2021) Early Days, The Barnes Garage, Glasgow
(2018) LA Summer, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh
(2018) Residency Show, Back Lane West, Redruth
(2018) Manchester Art Fair, Arusha Gallery, Manchester
(2018) Idiosyncrasies, Goldfish Bowl- Falmouth University, Falmouth
(2017) 1 of 2, The Poly, Falmouth
(2015) FMP, Colchester Institute, Colchester
(2015) Harwich Arts Festival, Old Bank Studios, Harwich
(2015) Limited Additions, The Minories, Colchester
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2018) FSA Back Lane West Residency Award
(2018) Firstsite Collectors’ Group Bursary Award
(2018) Newlyn and The Exchange FT&D Award
(2021) Visual Art Open Shortlist
(2022) Artist Support Pledge, Artist Surfaces Award
(2023) The Portrayals Project Commission