Zoë Carlon

Where and When You Are

3 October—9 November 2024

South Parade is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by Wakefield-based artist Zoë Carlon.

For her second solo exhibition at South Parade, this collection of new paintings continues Zoë’s exploration into the experience of solitude within communal spaces, moments of transition and active attention. Zoë’s paintings unfold episodic scenes depicting transitory metropolitan spaces; a garden inside an Underground station, an office foyer, the landscape beyond a windscreen during a morning commute. And inwards towards the domestic; glimpses through residential windows, empty cafes, a still life of flowers. Areas we would otherwise pass through, or linger within a shared encounter, are captured and experienced in seclusion. 

Zoë’s process is deeply influenced by the unique qualities of her chosen surface of aluminium. The solidity and resistance of the surface plays a crucial role in the application and build up of oil paint, allowing her brushstrokes to maintain their distinct texture as the layers accumulate over many months. In this way, her slow, deliberate process emphasises both the physicality of the materials and the gradual evolution of each painting. 

The spaces are presented outside of context; it is unclear where exactly they are, the time of day, the geographical location. Always in flux, the viewer traversing across and through them, titles Portal (Tiny Park) and Commute alluding to this. The inherent feeling in her work shifts the encounter into a new realm, a new perspective of an otherwise familiar scene, an attention formed. Two Windows expresses this notion of being between spaces, unsure exactly where you’re positioned, Zoë’s painted light refracting a replica of the window on the room’s backwall, or in fact opening up the room to another windowed space beyond. A window within a window, a world within a world. 

This sensorial aspect continues through Zoë’s utilisation of a vibrant colour palette too. From burgundy plush seating in Deck Lounge - its sumptuousness drawing you in to sit - to sprightly greens and warm oranges within Nasturtiums’ sprawling scene, each painting emanates liveliness. 

Zoë’s publication in collaboration with South Parade, ‘Photographs 2020-2023,’ launches with the exhibition and collates selected photographs from her archive that function as source material for her paintings. Zoë has also written a text which includes extracts from her studio diary and research to illuminate further contexts to the exhibition. 

Zoë Carlon (b. 1993, Wakefield, UK) lives and works in Wakefield, Yorkshire, UK, and studied at the University of Leeds (2013 - 2017) and Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts (Budapest).

Recent solo exhibitions / presentations include Feria Material, Vol. 9 (Mexico City, 2023) and Strange Comfort, South Parade (London, 2021-22). Recent selected group shows include The Good Intent, Guest Gallery (New York, 2024), Moving In, Super Super Markt (Berlin, 2023), What we make where, Hyde Park Art Club (Leeds, 2023), Material Poetics, South Parade x The Shop at Sadie Coles HQ (London, 2022), CHRONICLES 5, Galerie Droste x KPM Berlin (Berlin, 2022), Wish Lush (curated by Elaine Tam & Arthur Gouillart), Kravitz Contemporary x JM Gallery (London, 2022), Dialogues No1, Centre for Recent Drawing (London, 2021) and From Cellar to Garrett, South Parade (London 2021). Zoë’s work can be found in the public collections of The Government Art Collection (London) and The FUAM Collection (University of Leeds).

Review by Gertrude Gibbons (Corridor8)