Jordy Kerwick: I’ll Come Back Again, Union Gallery: ‘Dream-like imagery mixed with personal symbolism’
Artist Jordy Kerwick tames cobras and tigers. Or does he? Do we really subdue nature when we stuff it and put it on the wall, or do we just embed the threat of the wild in our minds?
These are questions brought to mind by Kerwick’s still lifes, recently on display at Union Gallery in Bethnal Green, featuring exotic animals in lurid colour, comingled with lamps, vases and other domestic objects.
The imagery in these paintings has a dream-like quality in which cultural tropes are mixed with personal symbolism. Vivid colours and beguiling iconography leave one wondering what exotic stories lurk deep in our own minds.
Jordy Kerwick: I’ll Come Back Again ran until 12 June at Union Gallery, Teesdale Street, E2 6PU.