Marc Camille Chaimowicz By Lissy Broad

Pre-Gallery Impression Before we went to the gallery I had heard of Chaimowicz’ work from the Turner Prize exhibition at the Serpentine last year. I then decided to research Chaimowicz to get an idea of his style and approach before seeing his work. From his profile pages on different gallery websites he seems to change his medium although his style seems to resonate through his work-from painting, sculpting, photography, performances and installations of furnishings and wallpapers Chaimowicz uses lots of narrative in his often nostalgic work, that ranges from the 70s to today. Although his works always seem to overlap and draw similarities despite the time difference of range of media. He sometimes introduces political messages into his work but always portrays them in a way personal to him Has been included in many exhibitions around the world such as last years Turner Prize Exhibition at the Tate Britain; Serpentine Galleries in London

First Quartet No. 1-4 (2010) Chaimowicz uses photography and watercolour in his piece for the collection which is presented in the form of assemblage. As a whole, the piece portrays a tone of nostalgia with the technique of collaged images and especially with the use of photographs. The small scale of the piece adds to this tone as it makes the piece feel intimate and therefore more personal. The photos used in the pieces seem like high fashion photography out of magazine Two of the works have cut out borders which appear symmetrical at first but are in fact just repeated patterns. Like in other works by Chaimowicz there's a contrast of past and present in the style and method, which sometimes coexist or battle with one another.

Likes and Dislikes I really enjoy the cut out sections of watercolour as it makes the work feel like it would be easy to replicate despite it’s inventiveness The lines and shapes of the piece are very delicate and intricate in places, which introduces individuality to the piece and the intimacy that is suggested from that. The cut out sections within the piece are very free-flowing and organic as there are few angular or regular shapes. I enjoy the use of colour in the works, as the backgrounds are mostly sepia or black and white which appears in an older photography style. The pops of colour in the images laid on top of these photos add drama and focal points on the piece. I dislike that the fourth piece looks out of place with the other images, as the assemblage style may look similar but the base image isn’t as figurative as the others, due to it being a surreal-style painting.