Art - Encounters

Following a successful first exhibition last year, the ‘4 over 50’ group are back at the Thebes Gallery this month with a new show entitled ‘Encounters.’ They’ve invited a new batch of artists to join them this year, too, I learn from founder Irene Runayker. “So now we’ve got everything covered from textiles to ceramics”, she says. Irene, an abstract acrylic artist will be displaying works from a series on the days of the week. “I was interested in the way that what happens on one day can affect what I produce on the canvas”, she explains. “I would build up layers of thin glazes of colour and then the final image would come out on top, and sort of define the canvas”. Irene was inspired by a previous project on the Iraq war in which the day’s events had become crucial to the work. “One day I had been building up a black textured base without knowing what the final image would be when the news came on. There was a report about the discovery of an unmarked grave containing 43 bodies. I instantly felt that I needed to create a sort of memorial to the event so that became my image”, she says.
For the latest works Irene built on personal and symbolic associations with the days of the week. “For example Saturday is the only day I buy a paper and I’ve always been fascinated by the short lifespan of print - how it’s destined to become tomorrow’s rubbish. So I stuck ripped pieces of the paper on the canvas and dripped paints all over it. It’s quite wild,” she laughs. ER