Two Buildings, 2012
oil on board. 50 x 57 cm
Private collection. On view at Haus am Waldsee, Berlin 2 February – 5 May 2024
I usually prefer to compose using the edges of the painting. In a fairly obvious way, elements in the paintings often echo – are parallel to – an edge. But this one has the structure of an ‘X’, which would usually be too explosive for me to work with. But in this case the axis made up by the buildings is closed down by having the two buildings facing each other, turned inwards.
I’m very interested in what makes compositions. Especially as it’s not just a formal thing – it affects the whole meaning and psychology of the work. For example, the buildings here could have exactly the same tone, colour, weight and shape as they do, but if they were turned away from each other it would be a very different painting. In their different ways the two buildings are oddly neutral and of a type. They’re not domestic, but not industrial either. They are of different eras, and neither of them is contemporary, but nor are they ‘historic’.
Carol Rhodes. Artist’s notes for the exhibition Survey at MAC Belfast, 2018