The exhibition is of the work of ten painters from across the world Daniel Richter (b. 1962, Germany), Michael Armitage (b. 1984, Kenya), Cecily Brown’s (b. 1969, UK) , Nicole Eisenman’s (b. 1965, France), Dana Schutz’s (b. 1976, USA),  Tala Madani’s (b. 1981, Iran),.  Sanya Kantarovsky (b. 1982, Russia), Ryan Mosley (b. 1980, UK),  Christina Quarles’s (b. 1985, USA) and Tschabalala Self (b. 1990, USA). The exhibition titled,  Radical Figures and  according to the exhibition summary the ten artist’s work ‘tell compelling stories and address vital social concerns around gender and sexuality, society and politics, race and body image’. All the work is on a grand scale which worked well in the architecture of the Whitechapel Gallery. 

 

Overall I found the exhibition disappointing, it did not meet my expectations raised by the exhibition premisesummary and the press. I found the issues the works were supposedly dealing with were obscure without an enormous amount of explanation and neither was I seduced by the power of the paintings themselves. I was left thinking instead why these particular artists were selected and others, such as Jenny Saville, left out. Was it that these artists are cutting edge making radical new work now?  Was it that these artists had not had much exposure before? But their wide age range - from 30 to 58 years and high profiles dispelled these theories. Most of them are represented by successful commercial galleries such as Gagosian  (Cecily Brown ) White Cube  (Michael Armitage) and David Kordansky Gallery (Tala Madani). Perhaps it was just that the work of this particular group of painters whilst interesting did not appeal to me personally.

 

There were a few exceptions to this. The artist’s I did engage with were Cecily Brown, Michael Armitage and Tschabalala Self. I found these artist’s drew me in to the stories or issues embedded in their practice through colour, form and powerful and intriguing painting techniques.  This was the first time I had seen Cecily Brown’s work ‘;in the flesh’  and I found her fluid painterly techniques  far more powerful than I had imagined; the size, the colour and the full impact of her gestural marking are impossible to see in reproduction. Her paintings are quite overwhelming as there is so much going on in the picture plane. Coupled with the gravity with which she raises issues of sexuality and pornography in her work, there is also an  exuberance and joy which can be disarming.

 

By contrast Michael Armitage’s work has a more sombre mood. Though his work displays an equal but different pleasure in colour. The influence of Gauguin is apparent and our 21st century view of Gauguin’s Polynesian ‘child brides’ seem to parallel the societal and political questions critiqued in Armitage’s work. 

 

Finally, the work of American artist Tschabalala Self stands out. Her work challenges concepts of what painting by  including elements of quilting,  print making and drawing in the work, some parts of the image even escape the confines of the stretched canvas and are painted directly to the gallery wall. She uses all this to great effect creating images of Afro-American culture that are both familiar and challenging.