Charlotte Hodes: the grammar of ornament

Sun 27 April 2014 - Sat 24 May 2014

Murray Edwards College

With an international reputation as an artist working through collage across different media, this new work by Charlotte Hodes has been informed by the influential 1856 book The Grammar of Ornament by architect Owen Jones, one of the most important design theorists of the 19th century.

Hodes subverts this male treatise and re-interprets it from the position of a contemporary female artist engaged in the languages of fine and decorative arts. “Hodes dismantles idea and form by using collage and papercut techniques to disrupt images, thus creating multifarious new directions and possibilities,” says Dr Janet McKenzie in her catalogue essay on the work.

In Hodes’ papercuts the female figure appears as a protagonist serving to undermine and disrupt the rigidity of the hierarchical system presented by Jones, defined by his “General Principles” that govern the use of design and ornament in architecture. Her feminist approach is further explored through the medium of ceramic dishes as a canvas, situating the imagery firmly within the domestic domain rather than seeking to replicate the grand and lofty iconography of architecture and classic design.

“Her work, using tiny fragments of paper and decorative motifs, explores the diverse manner in which the women have been presented in art history; the decorative links to the domestic, and the way in which so much of female activity goes unnoticed,” says McKenzie.

This work builds upon Hodes' prize winning work on paper for the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2006, her solo exhibition at The Wallace Collection 2007 and her participation in Glasstress: White Light White Heat exhibitions at both the Venice Biennial 2013 and The Wallace Collection 2013.

Charlotte Hodes lives and works in London. She studied Fine Art as an undergraduate student (1978–82) and Painting as a postgraduate student (1982–84) at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London. At the Slade School under the Professorship of Lawrence Gowing, she was a student of Paula Rego, Stanley Jones and John Hoyland. Charlotte was Associate Artist at the Wallace Collection, London from 2005-2007 and Winner of the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2006. She is Professor in Fine Art at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. Charlotte Hodes has exhibited with jaggedart since 2007.

Cost: free