Witness

Rachel Lancaster (1979 - )

Oil on Canvas

2023

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection
    Many of Rachel Lancaster’s paintings stem from depictions of passing moments in cinema, music and photography. She is drawn to little-noticed images that linger in the background of the main event or storyline. This painting draws us into a passing camera shot or fleeting moment from a film, the identity of which is alluded to only in the painting’s title, Witness. With its blending of luminescent whites, deployment of soft focus and shrewd use of scale and abstraction, the image takes us beyond the primary event that might typically draw our attention and instead invites us to look deeper into the drama of otherwise insignificant shots, whether an extreme close-up or a momentary glimpse of a domestic interior. Lancaster’s paintings are created by applying successive, thin glazes of translucent oil paint to her canvas and by adding multiple layers of colour and texture to all her images so that they accrue over time. Through these inventive painting techniques, she reveals the uncanny beauty of the backdrop and the quiet spectacle that lies beyond the action.
  • About the artist
    Rachel Lancaster lives and works in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Working primarily in paint, she explores the intersections and distinctive languages of cinema, music and photography. Lancaster has exhibited widely in recent years and participated in numerous projects, performances and artist residencies both nationally and internationally. In 2015 she was invited to be Artist in Residence at Alewive Brook Road in New York, former residence and studio of Elaine De Kooning. She was shortlisted for the Contemporary British Painting Prize (2018); granted a CVAN Creative Spaces Residency (2020); and was awarded the BEEP Painting prize and the Ares Mosaic Art Award (both in 2022).
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  • Details
    Artist
    Rachel Lancaster (1979 - )
    Title
    Witness
    Date
    2023
    Medium
    Oil on Canvas
    Dimensions
    height 90cm; width 70cm; depth 2cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Workplace Gallery, January 2024
    Provenance
    Workplace Gallery Ltd, London UK; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection 18 January 2024
    GAC number
    19252