Pell Mell

This solo exhibition was developed through Pratt’s AHRC Fellowship entitled ‘Blind Faith - Exploring the Effects of an Objective Attention to Detail on the Painting Process’, Pratt drew parallels between theory, painting-processes and thought, and an amnesiac way of working was proposed. By utilising a myopic proximity to the surface and a systematic approach to image-making, the investigation centred on breaking down the flow of time into a series of instants. The innate physical behaviour of paint as raw matter is as important as Pratt’s manipulation of it; the exhibition title, ‘Pell Mell,’ reflects the notion of chance and game playing, with the parallel situations of accident and subsequent re-roganisation. The playful titles of the paintings suggest place names, and refer to the visual clues within the paintings, proposing a kind of process-led site or arena where things happen.

The exhibition was launched at Houldsworth Gallery, London and toured to Forum d'Art Contemporain, Sierre, Switzerland. Sixteen paintings were presented, each of which began with a random act, often a drip or a splat of paint thrown at the canvas, which was then objectively analysed. This analysis was not as an image, as would have been hitherto anticipated, rather the splashes were categorised and seen as forensic particles. Through this dualistic approach to painting Pratt simultaneously destroyed the possibility of pure formalism and expressionism communicated through gesture.

Funded by the AHRC, the British Council, the University of Southampton, Winchester School of Art, FAC Sierre & Ecole Cantale du Valais, Sierre, with an accompanying publication and essay by art critic Sally O'Reilly, Pratt presented her research project in a paper to a peer-international audience delivered at FAC. The exhibition was reviewed in Modern Painters.