Perfectionism: A Trick of the Eye

Curated by Becca Pelly-Fry

July.16 - September.16.2020

alastair Gordon

Born in 1978, Alastair Gordon lives and works in London, and earned a MA in Fine Arts at Wimbledon School of Art. My paintings strongly reference a form of trompe l’oeil painting that proliferated in the seventeenth century in Northern Europe: a specific form of illusionism called quodlibet (what you will). From here I paint an array of selected objects to appear as ‘pinned’ or ‘taped’ in low relief on a wooden surface. My approach to painting is deeply rooted in an historical tradition of trompe l’oeil illusionism. I find this an ideal vehicle to explore more contemporary questions about the function of images today, the processes of painting, of illusion, representation and how artists utilise their source materials.

“The notion of authenticity is central to my artistic enquiry. As Jean Baudrillard wrote in The System of Objects: ‘We are fascinated by what has been created...because the moment of creation cannot be reproduced.’”

Click here to view a video of Gordon describing his artistic practice.