Birds

By Andrew Frost

Since the 1980s and her switch from photorealism to neo-expressionism, Jenny Watson has forged an individual path. Partly autobiographical in subject matter and full of pathos and gentle humour, Watson’s paintings are built using the vocabulary of childhood and teenage imagery – horses, ballerinas, princesses – overlaid with a mature and often acerbic sensibility. For her new show Birds at Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Watson presents a small selection of works that command the space with size and a bold handling of colour and line.

The playful punning of the title matches images of women with images of birds, from 60’s Dolly Bird [2014], a full figure on a shocking pink background, to Bird with Insect [2014], a black bird painted onto a woollen blanket. Watson’s trademark use of various materials for her paintings is in full swing in Birds, ranging from printed linen to a heavy primed hessian for a head and shoulders close up of Ginger [2014], a mournful looking creature with black eyes. In the self-explanatory A Bird Atop Dancers [2014] Watson has painted in a King Parrot atop a female human dancers. Perhaps in this image the dancer is king, although in her own world, Watson is the queen.

Until March 8

Roslyn Oxley Gallery, Paddington

Pic: Jenny Watson
A parrot atop dancers, 2014.
Acrylic, Japanese pigment and diamantes on rabbit skin glue primed English printed linen,
165 × 132cm.