ROBERT LOGAN

I am an artist living and working in London. I received an MA Fine Art from Central Saint Martins in 2008 and have since been exhibiting frequently in the UK and Europe. My practice has developed through my interest in phenomenology, perception, and psychoanalysis in relation to my work production, and how it is viewed. I produce works which are part improvised using techniques similar to frottage: a practice made famous by surrealist artists which relies on our subconscious desire to visually connect fragments and mentally categorise or analogise what we see. The resulting works have a similar feeling to hand coloured black and white photographs. They are made firstly by working in monochrome with charcoal on paper or canvas, which is then varnished and over-painted in simple washes of colour. As such they are hard to classify as either drawing or painting. The works are highly detailed in places and make references to photography (through cropping, having “out of focus” areas and the manner in which they are coloured) which would suggest a representational practice. However it is impossible to identify a subject matter beyond it being something un-nameable or abstract, questioning what it would look like to represent something you couldn’t recognise, and exploring the idea of representation as a fantasy. Despite the fact the images are unidentifiable, the viewer will make unconscious analogies. Various parts may seem as if they belong together, forming a whole, and through this possible narratives can develop (such as forms seemingly struggling to climb over each other). There is an overall organic, edoscopic feel which might lead to ideas of internal organs or disease. Often the more gestural areas of mark application may create a sense of violence and the unusual use of colour might evoke old horror movie posters. Although the works are not intended to have a single clear meaning, I see the themes as embodiment, body politics, abjection, techno paranoia and apocalypse.