“As the thought comes to me to exorcise and transform this black with a white drawing, it has already become a surface. Now I have lost all fear, and begin to draw on the black surface.” – Jean Arp

43 Inverness Street is pleased to announce TANk, a solo exhibition of work by Chantelle Stephenson.

The artist refers to the untitled art works in TANk as ‘painted objects’; they act as sculptures and contain a tactility that make them stand in their own space. They may appear minimal and delicate in their colour palette and materials used, but they contain an undercurrent of discipline and strength. Colour is stripped down to the essentials of black and white in order to reveal the depths, tones and textures that a single colour can contain. The careful composition of the tones and textures of black and white focuses the eye on the controlled movement of the artistic hand and the physicality of the materials that the paint rests on – linen, silk, wood, aluminium and steel.

In the untitled works of her Tank Series (2012), the wooden objects lean against planks and contain an undulating rhythm of matte and glossy surfaces, created by the layered and mixed variety of oil paint and ink with the industrial paint of emulsion and shellac. In her works where metal is used, the shininess of the aluminium reflects beneath the paint while the un-galvanized steel reveals the vulnerability of the tough material as it continues to rust easily through its exposure to air and moisture.

In the works on silk and linen, the folds and creases with the layers of silkscreen paint create fluid layers and movements and respond to the surrounding space and the viewers as they walk past.

The works in the show play between movement and structure and between rigid permanence and vulnerability in her painted objects.

Chantelle Stephenson received a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from The Cambridge School of Art. Exhibitions include Gaeltacht and Lost Landscapes at Letchworth Arts Centre in Letchworth (2009 and 2010), Endless Provocation at The Michael Brown Gallery in Hitchin, Hertfordshire (2011), Open Ended, at Open Ealing in Ealing, London (2012), and Matter at The Harbour Exchange in Docklands, London (2012). She was also an artist-in-resident at the Departure Foundation at the Thames Tower in Hammersmith, London from 2011-2014.