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The Body Speaks

Past exhibition
10 Jan - 4 Feb 2025
  • Press release
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  • Press Release Text
    Guts Gallery is incredibly excited to present The Body Speaks, a group exhibition that explores how distortion in figuration can be used to plumb the depths of the human psyche.

     

    In The Body Speaks, the human figure takes centre stage. Throughout the exhibition, artists experiment with form, colour, and gestural mark-making to imbue the human figure with the power to express what is usually kept hidden within. Here, inner conflicts, trauma, memories, dreams, and nightmares are transmuted into the visual world and given language through the disruption of the physical body.

     

    In one work, two bodies merge and disappear into one another through an act of violent struggle. In another, lustrous, satin-like skin shudders and swells into balloon-like, billowing forms. Elsewhere, a physical form begins to ooze and spread across the composition as if it were viewed through a distorted glass. In a different work, an outstretched limb effaces itself and evolves into scratchy, bewildering abstraction on the canvas. From this, it is clear that the bodies within The Body Speaks are not quite stable. They are not closed-off, finished units. Instead, they are ever-changing, visual manifestations of the artist coming to terms with the constant, mystifying fluctuations of human emotion.

     

    Each work within The Body Speaks depicts the human form on the precipice. Throughout the show, fleshy figures squirm, writhe, and contort themselves into entirely new bodily configurations. The viewer watches as each molten form begins to soften, seep, and overflow its own boundaries before finally coagulating and fusing the disparate parts together once again. As a result, the bodies depicted within The Body Speaks seem to be permanently on the brink of total metamorphosis, as if the artist has captured the swirling, seething stages before a new, altered form is brought into existence.

  • Artist
    • Yi Liu

      Yi Liu

    • Shadi Al-Atallah

      Shadi Al-Atallah

    • Vanessa Liem

      Vanessa Liem

    • Elsa Rouy

      Elsa Rouy

    • Georgia Semple

      Georgia Semple

  • Works
    • Shadi Al Atallah Flour in your hands, 2025 Ink, chinagraph pencil and acrylic on canvas 155 x 120 cm 61 x 47 1/4 in
      Shadi Al Atallah
      Flour in your hands, 2025
      Ink, chinagraph pencil and acrylic on canvas
      155 x 120 cm
      61 x 47 1/4 in
      Enquire
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    • Shadi Al Atallah Your mouth is a water skin, 2025 Ink, chinagraph pencil and acrylic on canvas 155 x 120 cm 61 x 47 1/4 in
      Shadi Al Atallah
      Your mouth is a water skin, 2025
      Ink, chinagraph pencil and acrylic on canvas
      155 x 120 cm
      61 x 47 1/4 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EShadi%20Al%20Atallah%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EYour%20mouth%20is%20a%20water%20skin%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2025%20%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EInk%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Echinagraph%20pencil%20and%20acrylic%20on%20canvas%3Cbr/%3E%0A%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E155%20x%20120%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A61%20x%2047%201/4%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Vanessa Liem Lightbath, 2024 Oil on canvas 152.4 x 121.9 cm 60 x 48 in
      Vanessa Liem
      Lightbath, 2024
      Oil on canvas
      152.4 x 121.9 cm
      60 x 48 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EVanessa%20Liem%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ELightbath%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%20on%20canvas%20%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E152.4%20x%20121.9%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A60%20x%2048%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Vanessa Liem Lightbath II, 2024 Oil on canvas 60 x 70 cm 23 5/8 x 27 1/2 in
      Vanessa Liem
      Lightbath II, 2024
      Oil on canvas
      60 x 70 cm
      23 5/8 x 27 1/2 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EVanessa%20Liem%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ELightbath%20II%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%20on%20canvas%20%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E60%20x%2070%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A23%205/8%20x%2027%201/2%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Yi Liu The Hunt 1 , 2025 Oil, acrylic on linen 100 x 100 cm 39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
      Yi Liu
      The Hunt 1 , 2025
      Oil, acrylic on linen
      100 x 100 cm
      39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EYi%20Liu%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EThe%20Hunt%201%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2025%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eacrylic%20on%20linen%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E100%20x%20100%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A39%203/8%20x%2039%203/8%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Yi Liu The Hunt 2 , 2025 Oil, acrylic on linen 110 x 75 cm 43 1/4 x 29 1/2 in
      Yi Liu
      The Hunt 2 , 2025
      Oil, acrylic on linen
      110 x 75 cm
      43 1/4 x 29 1/2 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EYi%20Liu%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EThe%20Hunt%202%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2025%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eacrylic%20on%20linen%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E110%20x%2075%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A43%201/4%20x%2029%201/2%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Elsa Rouy Saving face, 2024 Acrylic on canvas 70 x 40 cm 27 1/2 x 15 3/4 in
      Elsa Rouy
      Saving face, 2024
      Acrylic on canvas
      70 x 40 cm
      27 1/2 x 15 3/4 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EElsa%20Rouy%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ESaving%20face%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%20%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EAcrylic%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E70%20x%2040%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A27%201/2%20x%2015%203/4%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Georgia Semple A Weighted Exchange, 2024 Oil, acrylic on canvas 200 x 140 cm 78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in
      Georgia Semple
      A Weighted Exchange, 2024
      Oil, acrylic on canvas
      200 x 140 cm
      78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EGeorgia%20Semple%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EA%20Weighted%20Exchange%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2024%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eacrylic%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E200%20x%20140%20cm%3Cbr/%3E%0A78%203/4%20x%2055%201/8%20in%3C/div%3E
    • Georgia Semple Eat or toil, 2024 Oil, acrylic on canvas 140 x 100 cm 55 1/8 x 39 3/8 in
      Georgia Semple
      Eat or toil, 2024
      Oil, acrylic on canvas
      140 x 100 cm
      55 1/8 x 39 3/8 in
      Enquire
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  • Installation shots
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  • Press
    • The Body Speaks

      Art Plugged, 16 Jan 2025
    • Who. What. Where? No. 97

      Scarlett Coughlan, Hunger, 15 Jan 2025
    • Viewing ‘The Body Speaks’ at Guts Gallery

      The Wick, 10 Jan 2025
  • Events
    • Opening Evening: The Body Speaks

      Opening Evening: The Body Speaks

      18:00 - 20:00 10 Jan 2025
      Save the date and join us for the opening of ‘The Body Speaks’. No RSVP required!
      Read more
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