OUGD402 SARA POPE PAINTINGS EXHIBITION

I recently visited Colours Mary Vary for research for another brief, however they had an exhibition on of Sara Pope's painting's which I thought were really interesting and beautiful. They were all paintings of women's lips in different expressions and different shades of red, some even using glitter which I thought was fabulous, and really made the colours pop even more.

Exhibition title as you walk in.

These lips are such a deep red, with the little specks of white making them look shiny from the lipstick, and the white stock and teeth makes they appear even more bold and seductive.

This is a very realistic looking painting, one that is even more seductive with the tongue stretched to the corner of the mouth teasingly. Again the shine on the lips makes the lips look luscious and soft. I think how the paint is dripping down from the bottom lip makes this look a little bit like very detailed, perfect street art, as often in street art the spray paints would drip down the wall if sprayed too heavily. 

This is one of Pope's more unusual painting's, as the whole top half of the woman's face appears to be stretched, and the eye and lip make up looks splatted on by an excited 7 year old, or perhaps someone has abused her, spreading her make up all over her face. Either way this is a lot more abstract to her other work, and makes you think a lot more.

This is possibly one of the most wet look paintings of lips from the exhibition, which I think is enhanced by is being mounted onto a mirror, adding to the reflective, shiny quality of the lips. Only the middle part of the lips has been painted as well, and fills nearly the whole stock, which gives the impression of the woman leaning in for a kiss, especially with the lips at a slight angle as well, tilted upwards too.

This is one of my favourite paintings from the exhibition, as there is so much more intricate detail in this painting that all the others, with the lips puckered ready for a kiss. There are more pink shades used in this painting as well rather than bright reds, making it look less seductive and more feminine. I really love the texture created in the lips, how you can see the creases in the skin so clearly, it makes the lips look as if they are stuck onto the wall rather than as a painting on a piece of paper.

This is another of my favourites, with a light pink shades used for the lips, and glitter as well, to make them sparkle, looking sugary almost, which is enhanced by the tongue just visible as the corner of the mouth, looking like it wants to lick the sugar off the lips. Because of the light pink shade of the lips, they appear a lot more playful and innocent, rather than seductive and sexy where the dark red has been used in some of Pope's other paintings. 

This exhibition was definitely a pleasant surprise, as I just stumbled upon it, and it made me really appreciate art, and the time and effort it must have taken to produce all of these paintings, to make sure they were exactly as she wanted. It also showed me that a design doesn't have to be crammed full of a lot of aspect to work, but that one exceptional image on a page is all you need to make a great piece of work, and sometimes the more subtler colours work best, such as the lighter pinks of the lips instead of the reds, as they don't shout in your face.