Luke Gottelier
“I wanted to make a series of paintings that use super-basic representation, with images put together in a very simple way, just from a few lines,” says Luke Gottelier. “I’d also been collecting second-hand ties from the 60s, 70s and 80s and thought of colliding the two things together. You can think of it like needlepoint taken up to a grand scale: the ties are woven through holes I cut in the canvas to create the images. I like the way they restrict my approach to painting, their size and material quality is very limited compared to a pencil or brush; this creates unexpected routes to making a picture. The figure is mangled in the painting: a head at the bottom right, giant shoes walking above and the diagonal lines at the top which are the road.”
“Absurdity is important to understanding my work and here I’m jokingly thinking about the Englishness of my paintings. The ties relate to the gentleman, The City, fathers, offices, the establishment. These are all things you are supposed to defy as an artist, but which you can’t avoid. Fabric also has a rich history in the story of art from the Bayeux Tapestry to Vermeer, Chardin, Matisse, Polke, Oehlen… I’m fascinated by different styles of painting and enjoy bringing a cacophony of references together, so the different styles of tie refer to different styles of painting. I make the background paintings first but they have to have something missing in them to make the ties work; I want just the right balance of conflict and compliment. The ties left dangling at the bottom of the canvas share the process of making with the viewer, but also have a pathetic quality which counteracts the riotousness of the paintings.”
