Leave to Remain - Studio Lenca
Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate
The inherent contradiction in those three words is the key to this exhibition, which opened recently at the Carl Freedman Gallery. How do you Leave to Remain?
This duality of meaning is a driving force throughout the exhibition. We get to know the central figure very well in these paintings, or should I say figures, many of these paintings feature portraits of two figures, with similar but changed faces. Figures stand in poses that are not exactly copied, but are mimicking each other holding their arms or legs slightly differently. All figures wear large hats typical of the artist’s native country of El Salvador and all of the figures look out directly at us.
Quinceañera - Studio Lenca
In absolute joyous torrents of colour, the portraits even leak paint from their canvases down into fussy gilt frames, pooling within the ornamental leaves, patterns and swirls. This detail especially was something I’d never seen before, but was absolutely captivated by (and keen to steal the image for a poem in the future!)
The figures in the paintings are keen to show us that they are more than the frames they sit within. Another expression of this sense of being larger than the constraints of a traditional exhibition hits you in the first room, paintings are hung on backdrops of large colourful rugs which have also been painted in bright colours, the paint seeping and drying into the fibres of the rugs. These works are larger than the white walls they’re hanging them on, they need to be seen within these bright and vibrant contexts.
The first room is a brilliant introduction to the key themes and motifs that echo in the other rooms of the exhibition. Bright vibrant colours, these figures, palm trees, and this sense of being greater and larger than the constraints that have been placed upon the artist. There is duality at the heart of this work, the sense of being very much split, being someone with a history and heritage who is displaced by war, corrupt governments, and economic factors beyond anyone’s control.
I saw in these paintings an exploration of this split. It’s not a sad exploration, the lightness, the vibrancy of the work shows us the artist is expressing their entire self all contradictory parts of it. There is true joy here within this complex world of volcanos and twined figures with large hats.
The volcanos when we entered the room…
The second room of the exhibition featured work made with the artist in collaboration with KRAN (Kent Refugee Action Network) where refugees and asylum seekers worked with Studio Lenca to create three large mountainous volcanos, as well as drawing and writing in pencil on the walls of the gallery. The volcanoes represent the landscape of El Salvador and are strewn with paint within the same gorgeous colour palette as the rest of the exhibition.
Visitors to the gallery are invited to move the volcanos into new configurations as all three of them are on trollies with ropes. The artist is giving these young and vulnerable people not just a creative outlet but the power and opportunity to move mountains. I was very struck by the symbolism of this act. It was a joy to be within the space and move the volcanos ourselves. The previous visitors had clustered them all together in the middle of the room, but me and my husband decided to place each one in a different part of the space. I was reminded of Japanese zen gardens where rocks are placed intentionally within raked sand to create a specific tableaux, these rocks representing mountainous islands, the sand representing the sea. In a way we were the zen gardeners creating a new representative landscape.
The Volcanos after we had moved them around…!
The final room included a mixture of large canvases and portraits within gilt frames. The figures were again bursting out of the canvases, Quinceanera featuring appliqued blue ribbons of celebration. The large back wall of the space accommodating a large diptych of four figures which incorporated the motifs of previous paintings, chairs, palm trees, and hats. This work was a stunning end to the show, bringing the various figures together again, sitting standing and leaning against a palm tree, they are all different aspects of this complex creative self.
I absolutely loved the exhibition, as I’m sure you can tell. It was brilliantly curated with a sense of coherence, each space carrying the themes of the show along to that final room.
The interactivity of being able to move the volcanos was a welcome experience and gives you a chance to build a relationship with the work. Wherever you are on the political spectrum the words Leave To Remain are pretty charged in our current climate. I’ve never thought of the deeper meaning of those words, how they interact together, like the three moving volcanos.
This exhibition explores in a joyous, vivid, vibrant way that utterly contractionary question that we all share, in small and large ways, how can we be ourselves when we have to leave the place where we first became ourselves?
Leave to Remain - Studio Lenca is at the Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate.
The Exhibition runs from 14th April – 16th June 2024. 12-5pm, Wednesday-Sunday. Entry is free.
