Showcasing work by three young artists, 'Unnatural Habitats' at Flowers (East) explores the interrelationship between a living subject and its environment. A sense of the surprising or uncanny unites all of the work on display, as the artists seek to unsettle the established opposition between interior and exterior.
The large canvasses of Andy Denzler, the most established of the three artists, present isolated figures standing lost, alienated, in vast scenes of blasted wilderness. The overriding sense is of more than loneliness: looking like a scruffy and malnourished Dior Homme model, the man who inhabits Morning Mood seems almost physically traumatised by the bleakness of the background.
Isabel Young introduces elements of vivid life into backdrops of neutered nature. In one piece, a cockerel struts across a bowl of fruit in the shadow of a brandy glass. The sudden realisation that there is real life in the still-life is both witty and slightly unsettling. Young's subtle manipulations of scale and perspective lend force to the juddery experience of viewing her work.
Meanwhile, Stepahnie Quayle's sculptures drag the unfettered wild outdoors into a context of faded domesticity. A large baboon sits atop a delicate antique draughts table, whilst a small monkey perches on the end of a beautifully battered piano. The highlight of the show is Mr & Mrs Fox. Upon one of a pair of faded, peeling, once grand, Regency chairs, perches a white sculpted fox. Atop the other is but a melted woody mélange of half-discernible elements. Oddly memorable, Quayle's work is elegant and politely questioning.
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