Hell or high water II opened on the 24th July 2023 at the Market Place Theatre Gallery, Armagh as part of the John Hewitt International Summer School, and continued until the 2nd of September 2023.
As with the previous paintings in this series, the work in this new exhibition Hell or high water III uses recycled coffee bean sacks as an oil paint surface. The paint is applied in raw gestures with impasto and drawn elements. The texture of the support forms an integral part of the painting surface, with Vikkie’s characteristic use of dark and light contrasts. The title of the exhibition signifies perseverance and persistence in the face of challenges and the paintings touch on decolonial concerns such as the climate crisis, deforestation, the destruction of biodiversity, the historic displacement of people, and the legacy of racial and sectarian violence. Elements of the compositions in Vikkie Patterson’s ongoing Hell or high water series were initially captured using photography before being reimagined on canvas. Formal characteristics of the coffee bean sackcloth she paints on, such as the text and the texture, emphasise thematic links to globalisation and colonisation, and look at the West through a critical lens, depicting introspective, anthropomorphic land- and streetscapes in portrait format.
About the Artist:
Vikkie Patterson is a painter and is also currently a PhD researcher at Ulster University Belfast School of Art. Her practice-based PhD examines disembodiment and decoloniality in the painting and present-day literature of Northern Ireland. Her research and practice have been informed by her degree from Trinity College Dublin in French and Germanic Studies, and time spent living in the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe.
Her work has been exhibited internationally. It is held in collections at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, the African and Caribbean Support Organisation Northern Ireland headquarters in Belfast, and at the Kanu Nayak Art Foundation in Mumbai, India. A touring exhibition with the Drawing Box Collective forms part of the National Irish Visual Art Library in Dublin. Her work also forms part of private collections in Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, North America and Australia. Patterson is a previous recipient of the Deaf and Disabled Artist Support Fund awarded by University of Atypical.
Exhibition dates: 14 January – 21 February 2025
Late Night Art: Thursday 6 February 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Artist talk:
Friday 13 February 1.30pm (TBC)
British Sign Language interpretation.
All welcome.
