Over the last decade there has been a surprising resurgence of interest in representational painting, particularly of the human figure. George Rouy (b. 1994, Kent, UK) is one artist taking part in this exciting re-engagement, a blending of abstraction and representation that revises the narratives of art history.<\/p>\n
To describe Rouy\u2019s work as solely figurative would be to miss a vital aspect. In his hands, the figure is removed from the idea of an observed body. Instead, his emotionally rich exploration expresses what a body feels like to inhabit and share space with. I spoke to Rouy about the mental and physical processes that underpin his practice. We discuss how these have changed and developed over the last year as he delves into re-exploring group scenes and pushes his conception of the figure further into the abstract.<\/p>\n
Rouy\u2019s personal re-engagement with the figure came in 2015 towards the end of his studies at London\u2019s Camberwell College of Arts. During his time at Camberwell the focus was largely on modes of expression more closely associated with post-conceptual art. \u201cIn many ways, I found this environment really exciting but deep down I have always had this calling to paint and pursue the figure. I remember being nine years old, coming back from the National Gallery and being so pumped to paint. As a painter, there can be this magical space from which you make your decisions \u2013 an intuitive, emotionally weighted space that isn\u2019t so cerebral.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rouy\u2019s relationship to the body is deeply intuitive. Rouy stretches and distorts the human figure, subtly and skilfully leaning into the abstract, revealing the lived-experience of a body through an expansive sensory lens. He describes his works as snapshots of psychic states. \u201cWhen you stretch or enlarge a form and see the movement of the paint on the canvas you add this psychological rhythm to it. Feelings like warmth, shakiness or numbness, they can all be recreated on the canvas \u2013 so too can a body’s aura, that intuitive aspect of meeting someone. That abstract moment of engagement and what that feels like in your own body is something that I\u2019ve always found exciting to explore. In this way, my work is about my own anatomy.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":97562,"id":97562,"title":"GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES","filename":"GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","filesize":408369,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/gaze-into-the-shit-mirror-george-rouy-on-chaos-the-unconscious-and-defacing-figures\/gro17961-carry-me-2021-hires\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"gro17961-carry-me-2021-hires","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":97533,"date":"2022-03-24 13:42:00","modified":"2022-03-24 13:42:00","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1481,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","thumbnail-width":124,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","medium-width":1920,"medium-height":1481,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","medium_large-width":1920,"medium_large-height":1481,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1481,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-1536x1184.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1184,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-2048x1579.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1579,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-scaled.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":16,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17961-Carry-Me-2021-HIRES-2656x2048.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":2656,"wpvr_mobile-height":2048}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Carry Me, 2021, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":97561,"id":97561,"title":"GRO16489-Contradiction, Resolution and Belief-2019-HIRES","filename":"GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","filesize":196871,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/gaze-into-the-shit-mirror-george-rouy-on-chaos-the-unconscious-and-defacing-figures\/gro16489-contradiction-resolution-and-belief-2019-hires\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"gro16489-contradiction-resolution-and-belief-2019-hires","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":97533,"date":"2022-03-24 13:41:10","modified":"2022-03-24 13:41:10","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1481,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","thumbnail-width":124,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","medium-width":1920,"medium-height":1481,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","medium_large-width":1920,"medium_large-height":1481,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1481,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-1536x1184.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1184,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-2048x1579.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1579,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-scaled.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":16,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO16489-Contradiction-Resolution-and-Belief-2019-HIRES-2656x2048.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":2656,"wpvr_mobile-height":2048}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Contradiction, Resolution and Belief, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
We sit and chat on the balcony at Hannah Barry gallery in London, where Rouy is represented. Inside hangs \u2018Carry Me\u2019, a striking example of one of his latest ventures into depicting group scenes. Recently on show at Art Basel, the piece hints at a sexual interaction between variously distorted forms. Artfully, Rouy maintains the cohesion of a group scene, alluding to digital distortion in the form of a stretched out facial representation that floats candidly in a sea of smudged abstraction and primordial brush strokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m depicting group scenes again but from a different angle,\u201d he explains. \u201cDefacing one figure but then including a face on another, abstracting another figure until it no longer looks human \u2013 but still showing them as being part of the same world.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":97563,"id":97563,"title":"GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES","filename":"GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","filesize":389876,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/gaze-into-the-shit-mirror-george-rouy-on-chaos-the-unconscious-and-defacing-figures\/gro17971-future-proof-2022-hires\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"gro17971-future-proof-2022-hires","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":97533,"date":"2022-03-24 13:42:33","modified":"2022-03-24 13:42:33","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1856,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","thumbnail-width":93,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","medium-width":1856,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","medium_large-width":1856,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","large-width":1856,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-1484x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1484,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-1979x2048.jpg","2048x2048-width":1979,"2048x2048-height":2048,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-scaled.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":12,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GRO17971-Future-Proof-2022-HIRES-1979x2048.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1979,"wpvr_mobile-height":2048}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":"Future Proof, 2021, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
Previously Rouy\u2019s figures have been dream-like and almost sculptural in form [see his series \u2018Maelstrom\u2019 presented in 2020 at Peres Projects, Berlin]. Over the last couple of years his work has entered an exciting new space, one darker and more complex \u2013 a response to living through these disturbing times. \u201cI am reacting to the time. Things aren\u2019t pretty at the moment and I\u2019m exploring that with the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, in his new exhibition at Peres Projects, we see Rouy defacing figures and combining styles. He is renegotiating the balance between figurative and abstract forms of expression in his art. Rouy navigates how to approach group dynamics within this new style. \u201cDefacing figures in the context of group scenes has given me a new relationship to space on the canvas. I have started allowing areas of the canvas to remain empty and other parts to be chaotic,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn my most recent works there is the suggestion of an interaction as group scenes imply a narrative. Although there doesn\u2019t have to be a clear narrative, the space around the chaos must accommodate the chaos enough to avoid creating jarring contradictions that alienate the viewer. I want the work to feel concentrated and intense rather than crowded.\u201d He cites British artist Cecily Brown, with her almost purely abstract approach to the figure, as being a big influence on him. \u201cI feel really inspired by painters who can achieve that level of abstraction while still retaining the form. It\u2019s a difficult balance to get right.\u201d<\/p>\n
A large part of Rouy\u2019s ability to achieve this balance in his own work results from his mysterious and intuitive process in the studio, which he describes as being very physical. \u201cThere is an unconscious relationship that I have between my mind and body when I work on art. Mostly I get an emotional sense of an image in my head first. I focus on what the painting feels like rather than a potential narrative. It\u2019s an emotional space but it isn\u2019t autobiographical.\u201d<\/p>\n