Art Exhibition: Collective Amnesia by Aileen A Paton

This exhibition, which sees its launch on Saturday 22 October 2016 in Gallery Two at Edinburgh Palette, St Margaret’s House, Edinburgh, affords an opportunity for the public to see some truly unique artwork.
The artist, Aileen A. Paton, transforms yesterday’s newspapers into remarkable paintings which are on a huge scale: indeed, as well as including framed pieces measuring six feet by four feet, the show features two works covering entire walls eighteen feet, and fifteen feet wide, respectively. The “wow factor” when you enter the gallery has to be experienced by the individual visiting the gallery – words cannot do justice to the impact of seeing this for the first time.

collective-amnesia

So what are the secrets behind creating these pieces? Understandably, the artist is reluctant to divulge the tricks of her trade. Suffice it to say that a variety of newspapers – including the New York Times and the Financial Times – submit themselves to the artist’s scalpel, effectively erasing all memory of text and image, but still retaining the basic scaffolding of a newspaper.

The resulting fragile structures are then miraculously transformed into virtual parchment, before being treated to the addition of watercolour paint, which is used to enhance prominent features.

The titles of each piece, are sometimes defined by self-explanatory terms such as “shanty town”, whilst in other cases they are shrouded in more enigmatic descriptions such as “intertextuality”. The viewer is encouraged to make his or her own mind up about what the picture is saying to them. However, one recurrent theme is that of telling stories; another revolves around the idea of making one’s mark on the world.
After the launch on Saturday, the exhibition runs until Sunday 6 November from 11.00am until 6.00pm.
 

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