ON BEAUTY

Julia Parkinson’s new exhibition of photographic works shares a name with Umberto Eco’s 2004 book, On Beauty, a title reflecting Parkinson’s own interest in the changing nature of aesthetics.

Working with a 20-stone model, Parkinson created a series of striking nudes which investigate the distinctive fleshiness of the female form. At times, the works clearly portray the human figure (recalling the abundant nudes of Renoir and Rubens). At others, they deny our desire to identify and label, and veer closer to abstraction.

By narrowing the focus to concentrate on small areas of the human anatomy – the crook of an elbow, the crease of a thigh – distance is created, an effect Parkinson furthers by printing directly onto inch thick acrylic blocks.

The carefully composed works draw the eye around in circles, hinting at landscape or the wandering lines of the cartographer. Shadow is as important as that which is lit. When the human form reasserts itself in the solid curve of a breast or thigh, the result is an entrancing shock of recognition.

In themselves, each piece is aesthetically pleasing. Yet Parkinson also forces us to question what it is that makes the body beautiful. Unlike the images of toned models which wallpaper our world, these photographs document an abundance of flawed flesh. In Julia Parkinson’s intriguing new works, extremes are brought into play and interrogated; the end result is a new and unique beauty.