Positioned somewhere between Painting and Sculpture, subject matter in Edward Liddle’s work is reduced to its purest elements. The works in Chouette! offer an opportunity to reflect upon the constant re appropriation, not only of external pre-existing imagery, but of imagery sourced from the artist’s own personal history.

Working in direct relation to the space of the gallery, the artist has created a new series of Painting Sculptures. Using his existing canvases, old paintings become physical objects: their crumpled forms suggesting weight and movement. Through the process of their physical realisation, the various paintings (each with their own unique histories) are unified as a discarded collection.

Colour and gestural mark making are elevated above that of subject matter; pattern, figuration and abstraction at once plainly levelled, drawing attention to the limitations of Painting’s one surface display. Glimpses of former compositions are espied as a playful exchange takes place between artist and viewer.

Shown alongside the Painting Sculptures are a series of new paintings inspired by a decorative painting effect discovered by the artist in Brussels. At first glance the individual Fleck Paintings seem identical however, each individual work is uniquely distinct. Almost monotone in appearance, the different shades of white paint chips have been removed by the artist from found wood, originally used as door frames. These subtly different white tones form a direct link to each layer of paint that has been applied by workmen (painters) over the lifetime of the doorframe.

The process heavy paintings make reference to the found forms and unintentionally artistic displays that are found outside of the art world. The role of the ‘Painter’ is called into question.

The artist has also selected a number of paintings taken from his ongoing body of work The Postcard Series. Using found postcards, paint is employed to edit and alter the original image, the paint and the image heightened in reference to each other.

The playful works presented in Chouette! unashamedly ask ‘Why not?’. The limits to what can be called painting are scrutinised as viewers are invited to encounter a distinctive visual language, one that bombards as well as rewards.