Julie Roberts / Child

This exhibition includes new work showing vivid images of children, painted and drawn with characteristic vigour and increasingly, an intricate use of patterning. Counter to a certain reading of the title, these are not universal images of childhood; they are specific, historicised portraits of children affected by some of the twentieth century’s great upheavals. These upheavals include war and displacement and are requited by references to the good works of the great child reformers like Barnardo, Montessori and Steiner.

Initially influenced by the work of theorist Michel Foucault, Roberts’ painting delves deeply into the environments and apparatus through which our social experience is given shape. In the past, this has included crime scenes and medical instruments, an unsettling subject matter that is represented in a surprisingly colourful and graphic style.

The thematic point of departure for Child is an exploration of domestic environments and young girls’ induction into domestic labour, evacuees, refugees, school rooms and familial portraiture. As with her previous work, familiar subjects are made strange and nothing can be taken for granted: the apparent safety, warmth and comfort provided by representations of childhood are subtly overshadowed by the uncanny effects of Roberts’ carefully orchestrated painting.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue including a commissioned essay by Francis McKee, Director of Centre for Contemporary Art in Glasgow.

We would like to thank Sean Kelly Gallery, New York for their assistance in realising the exhibition.