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Industrial Vacations |
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Helena Ben Zenou
project funding 2007
I work predominantly in painting, but also in photography, video and curation. My work addresses the physicality and social history of architecture and urban spaces.
Referring to architecture, the constructed urban environment and city views, my painting explores the transitory and contradictory nature of cities. Works originate through visits to sites of architectural interest, taking photographs, making sketches and walking through a city or a particular area – an informed wandering. I use industrial materials in place of pigment and paint thereby take the subject matter directly to the canvas. These materials are redolent of cities, industry and building but also of sculpture and three-dimensional forms; they have their own identity, which they retain on the picture surface. By referring directly to architectural structures and views and through the use of materials directly associated with the industrial landscape, I aim to capture the beauty of the unsightly and to raise questions about the changing face of the British landscape.
‘Industrial Vacations’ is a painter’s investigation into the architecture of Blackpool’s classic roller-coasters, Pleasure Beach rides and Tower. The wood and steel architecture of the classic roller-coasters, rides, pier and tower in Blackpool sum up the spirit of the industrial age. Here can be found the functional architecture of industry, utilising the most cutting edge ideas of the time in engineering, design and materials, all decorated in the superficial dress of ‘pleasure’.
The Juliet Gomperts project award has funded photography based research for new series of paintings, research into materials and the production of the first painting which refers to the sea-front architecture of Blackpool.
