HUNGER | THE ARTIST AND THE WORK: PORTRAITS CAPTURING CREATIVE SOLITUDE

Ry Gavin, Hunger, 5 May 2023

HUNGER'S RY GAVIN FEATURES STUDIO WEST'S EXHIBITION, 'BRYNLEY ODU DAVIES: ARTIST PORTRAITS'. 

 
"An artist’s studio is both their playground and their battleground. You either meet an artist who wants nothing more than to give you a whistlestop tour of their studio, subtly pointing out the different sources of inspiration around the room like paint splattered coffee table books, an unwashed mug, a barbie doll without its head and their smoking chair, or you meet one who wants to keep their isolated, creative space separate from the outside world.
 

For those who have been fortunate enough to be welcomed into an artist’s space, it becomes apparent early on what an unsung privilege it can be. It feels like a creative secret being opened up to the world, one that seems entirely reserved for artists in particular (writers can hardly show someone around their Word doc). And only occasionally has that opportunity been opened up to everyone and anyone, when photographers have helped to bridge the gap between the audience and the process. Think Tseng Kwong Chi’s photos of Jean-Michel Basquiat laying on his work, or Jane Bown capturing Francis Bacon sitting amongst the endearing chaos of his studio, taking photos of artists in their spaces isn’t necessarily anything new, but how we receive them is. 

 

Peckham-based photographer Brynley Odu Davies spent three years since the Covid-19 pandemic began travelling up and down the UK taking portraits of over two hundred artists. When he started out, Davies was navigating the changing rules of the pandemic, maintaining socially distanced conversations over cups of tea for half an hour or so before asking the artist to take their place in front of their work for the portrait. Artist Portraits now sits as a display of intimate moments of creative resilience and seclusion at a time of complete uncertainty.

 

Featuring artists including Corbin Shaw, Marcus Nelson, Olivia Sterling, Elsa Rouy, and Trackie McCleod, the 27-year-old’s show wipes away at the steamed window for audiences to see into the isolated worlds of the UK’s most exciting artists. Even though the pandemic is little more than a distant, triggering memory, what is striking about Davies’ exhibition is that it shows more than the perseverance and hard work of artists during that time. Some photographs in Artist Portraits were taken during the pandemic and others were taken after, and most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference – testament to the perpetual state of creative ambition amongst artists regardless of what’s going on beyond their walls."