Inquiry

V1 Gallery presents
Cut Down A Tree To Build A Wooden Horse, To Ride You May Get Splinters
A solo exhibition by George Rouy

V1 Gallery is pleased to present Cut Down A Tree To Build A Wooden Horse, To Ride You May Get Splinters, a new body of work that sits in a realm that is neither light nor dark, night nor day, living nor dead. In flux between temporary positions, sculptural amorphous figures vibrate between beauty and the grotesque. Painted into existence with tiny brush strokes as if conjured from a parallel universe, mirrored reflections taking on a life of their own. 11 paintings that engage the intuition, vision and psyche of the beholder.

Rouy paints otherworldly compositions in mauve, purple and blue hues, a slight gradient shift defines the contours of his subjects. They appear present and aloof, sensual and ambiguous. Mixed emotional signals and fluid body positions. The subtle difference between a smile and a smirk. To caress or crush. There is an uncanny feeling flowing through the works in the exhibition. A sense of tension and suspense in the air, a lingering and alluring drama.

The paintings seem strangely timeless while simultaneously contemporary. The polysemy of subject matter, composition and technique, stimulates curiosity and the potential of personal engagement in the works. An invitation to step into the meditation of Cut Down A Tree To Build A Wooden Horse, To Ride You May Get Splinters.

George Rouy (born 1994 in Sittingbourne, UK) lives and works in Kent, UK. Ongoing and recent exhibitions includes Metamorphosis - Art In Europe Now (group exhibition), Fondation Cartier, Paris, Smothered Awake (solo exhibition), Steve Turner, Los Angeles, Squeeze Hard Enough It Might Just Pop! (solo exhibition), Hannah Barry Gallery, London and Leaking Visions of Red (solo exhibition), Anna Zorina Gallery, New York. Cut Down A Tree To Build A Wooden Horse, To Ride You May Get Splinters is George Rouy’s first solo exhibition with V1 Gallery.