A brush with... Caragh Thuring
6/16/20261 hr 6 min
Caragh Thuring talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians, and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work. Thuring, who was born in Brussels in 1972 and has lived in the UK since 1973 makes paintings that present fragments of images, patterns and abstraction in compositions that often upend the conventions of her medium, while reaffirming its unique descriptive and poetic powers. With motifs that appear and often reappear in morphing forms and combinations, alluding to specific moments in her life, to film or art history, her paintings are in flux, both in their structure and spatial arrangements and in their meaning. They are propositions that cannot easily be resolved or reduced to simple or convenient narrative yet are far from unfocused or bloodless; rather, they arrest us and pull us deep into their mysteries, rewarding us as we spend more time with them, and return to them. She reflects on her interest in forms of slippage across various art forms, the role of drawing in her work, and her admiration of different forms of making, especially when there is a twist in how they are realised. She discusses her early engagement with the paintings of Otto Dix, the delicacy in the handling of Vija Celmins, the awkwardness in the works of Pieter de Hooch and the wildness of René Daniëls. She reflects on her journeys into volcanoes, metaphorically and literally, and on listening to Bach in her studio. Plus, she gives insight into life in the studio, and answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?
Caragh Thuring, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, until 19 September
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First 90 secondsBen Luke· Host0:00
[outro jingle] A Brush With is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, the arts and culture platform. Created by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bloomberg Connects lets you access museums, galleries, and cultural spaces around the world on demand. Download the app to access digital guides and explore a variety of content. [outro jingle] Hello, I'm Ben Luke, and welcome to A Brush With, the podcast from The Art Newspaper in which I talk to artists about their influences, from writers to musicians and of course other artists, and the cultural experiences that have shaped their lives and work. And this episode is A Brush With Cara Turing, whose paintings present fragments of images, patterns, and abstraction in compositions that often upend the conventions of her medium while reaffirming its unique descriptive and poetic powers. With motifs that appear and often reappear in morphing forms and combinations alluding to specific moments in her life, to film or art history, her paintings are in flux, both in their structure and spatial arrangements and in their meaning. They are propositions that cannot easily be resolved or reduced to simple or convenient narrative, but that doesn't mean that Cara's paintings are unfocused or bloodless. Rather, they arrest us and pull us deep into their mysteries, rewarding us as we spend more time with them and return to them. Cara was born in Brussels in 1972 and has lived in the UK since the following year.