Studio 12, Delta House Studios

ARTIST STATEMENT:

My work explores behaviour inside the museum. When visiting exhibitions I look for interesting scenes and photograph moments of playfulness and spontaneity. I later use these photos as source material for my paintings, referencing how we look and interact with the world around us, touching themes such as the way we view art through modern technology or how the younger audiences relate to the artworks. I’m mostly interested in reflecting spaces of quietness and stillness that hold a poetic element, inviting us to meditate and create our own narrative. I also aim to include a component of humour or irony either in the final image or in the title of the work. The moment the audience faces my paintings is important to me. When they realise they’ve become part of the work and that they’re probably being observed by an audience.

BIO:

Elena García de la Fuente was born in Madrid in 1975 and raised in Málaga. She has lived and worked in London since 1999. She completed an MA in Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute in London in 2001. She studied Fine Art at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, before finishing her studies at Leeds Metropolitan University in 1997 with an ERASMUS/exchange programme. In 2018 Elena has been preselected for the John Moores Painting Prize, one the the most prestigious painting prizes in the UK. In 2017 Elena exhibited in a solo show ‘To See or Not to See’ at The Last Supper in London and took part in The Other Art Fair NY at the Brooklyn Expo Centre, New York. In 2016 she was shortlisted for the ‘Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize’ and exhibited at the ‘RA Summer Exhibition’ in London. In 2015 she was shortlisted for both 'The Winsor & Newton Painting Prize' and the 'National Open Art Competition', and took part in her first group museum show 'Beauty' at MAD Antequera, Málaga, curated by Fernando Francés.

Website: www.elenagf.com

Email: info@elenagf.com