Removed from the Eyes of Strangers
Umeå, Sweden

8 - 30 October 2009
Galleri Andersson/Sandström, Umeå, Sweden

Steve Bishop, Rachel Goodyear, Matt Lippiatt, Wendy Mayer, Pete Smith, Clara Ursitti

Removed From the Eyes of Strangers, brings together the work of six emerging artists to Galleri Andersson/Sandström, an internationally acclaimed gallery in the woodland area of Umeå, Northern Sweden. Hidden behind trees and undergrowth, the gallery is the renovated boiler room of a former sanitorium, offering an ideal setting for the theme of the exhibition. The participating artists have been selected by Matt Roberts Arts in response to an ongoing interest in the work of Sigmund Freud and will be using their research of Freud’s essay ‘Das Unheimlich’ to inspire a new body of work for this exhibition. Freud used the term ‘unheimlich’ to explain the phenomenon that occurs when ideas and feelings from childhood which have been repressed are suddenly re-awakened, and the familiar becomes ‘unheimlich’ or uncanny. The artists in ‘Removed From the Eyes of Strangers’ will create new bodies of work which utilise the unique psycho-geography of the area to reveal how we can still be terrorised by the slightest shift in our perceptions.

Matt Lippiatt’s site sensitive installation will directly link the memory of the location with the uncanny and notions of artists as social outsiders, showing that the connection between genius and insanity is blurred.
Rachel Goodyear’s soft hand drawn visions of figures, burnt gateposts, abandoned clothing and violent images of wild birds and animals create an unfamiliar landscape forcing the viewer to readdress their own experience of suburban life.
Clara Ursitti is interested in questions surrounding what it means to be a human animal, and how our senses figure in this. Combining visual and non-visual senses, she creates meaning and experience for those encountering a work of art.
Steve Bishop is concerned with the tensions between the natural world and the man made. With foxes impaled on neon lights and squirrels submerged in concrete blocks, he creates a collision between the wild and the mundane materials of everyday life.
Pete Smith’s human forms mechanically mimic the shadowy patterns of everyday rituals grown from memories of his childhood and his experience of working in menial roles or on factory floors.
Wendy Mayer’s work centres around the evolution of the self. Exploring perceptions of the ageing process to embrace her interest in the uncanny, she utilises dolls and figurines to project images of herself that represents various stages of her evolving psyche.

Click here to download the Removed from the Eyes of Strangers evaluation report.