Opening drinks 5:30-8:00 Wednesday 5th of April

Last year we had Jamie Chapman as one of our presenters at the November Blikfang Event. For those who did not come to this event, Jamie spoke about his practice and his exhibition Rear Window on show at TSB Bank Wallace art Centre, Pah Homestead until the end of January.

Second Screening will open on the 5^th of April at Blikfang. We are very pleased to show a selection of Chapman’s work from the Rear Window exhibition as well as some new work that touches on the same themes- Voyeurism, ego, transference and ‘stalker-scenes-in-thriller-movies’.

To illustrate his view of self-awareness, Jean-Paul Sartre tells of the voyeur, who when peeping through the keyhole, at a scene they are not part of or privy to, will be completely immersed in the act of watching, self-awareness lost to the scene. Being caught in this act of looking, is an awkward moment of self-awareness but also a state of reflective consciousness. When the viewer becomes aware that they are caught in the act of watching, they suddenly become self-aware, an object of another’s gaze. Looking at these paintings creates a sense of Sartre’s keyhole metaphor. ‘People watching’ is something of a staple past time activity these days whether it is looking at passers-by at the coffee shop, into the lit windows of houses at night, or sneaking a glimpse into the open inviting villa door on a Sunday stroll. Then also, gawking at that ex-girlfriend’s Facebook profile while sitting next to your new crush, or suavely surveying the crowd at yet another art opening, looking and hoping to be seen.  There is a subconscious element of self-awareness that comes with almost every act act of looking. Chapman explores this in these paintings when gazing becomes obsessive and boundaries are crossed. Chapman’s paintings play on the uncertainty of the viewers’ role; are they merely a spectator or do they become implicated as the antagonist?