Opening & Panel Discussion "Muscle Heroism?"Between Sculpture and Painting

Opening & panel: Nic F. Amsel and Julie McCleery ask if sculpture and painting share a muscular heroism. Fri Dec 4. Painting and sculpture may appear to be worlds apart, yet they are subtly linked by a shared thematic drive centred on the idea of ‘climbing to one’s feet’, leading to similar themes. Painting practice bears the weight—both outward and inward—‘guided’ by the labour of the hand, whilst sculptural creation props up pillars of flesh and blood from the outside; painting conveys its dreams onto the canvas through a sensory intuition born almost of muscle memory, whilst the sculptor negotiates with events and objects, grappling with gravity and even the collapsing remnants of the setting sun. Might this be described as a romantic, muscular form of heroism? Does the artwork become a ‘heroic body’? This issue of Muscle Heroism? invites two artists active in both sculpture and painting to, drawing upon the distinct medial logics of the body, force and formalism, lightly reflect upon the narrative desires, dreams and muscular will that persist between these two media—and the intricate, mutually permeating interplay between them. “Rock Paper Scissors Shoot” is an initiative exploring the relationship between painting, photography and sculpture. Through a series of three one-week exhibitions and panel discussions, the project brings together two artists from different media backgrounds at Red Giant Project Space to explore the potential for narrative tension to emerge between these media, thereby re-examining the stereotypes, contrasts and associations that have gradually formed between them.