Chloe Early

Chloe Early graduated from NCAD Dublin in 2003. She currently lives and works in London. 

In her paintings Chloe Early creates a fantastical landscape, an urban utopia where strange and wonderful things happen. For this exhibition 'Ladies And Gentleman We Are Spinning In Space', she has referenced a variety of images and contexts; playground, circus and images of vacationing couples from travel magazines combine against an industrial architectural setting to highlight escapism, fantasy and leisure. Using these recognisable and transient architectural spaces and structures emphasises those qualities of escape and imagination in her paintings - a stepping outside the norm of contemporary urban life.

Early uses these images but places them in a different context so the circus is in town but there is no one there, a brightly coloured slide stands in the centre but the playground has become a battle ground for wild animals. In this way they become a symbol of an abandoned childhood, a lost innocence and are replaced by a new reality. Figures and animals inhabit these urban spaces, wolves roam the streets and deer stop to drink beneath looming buildings. There is a sense that this is a post apocalyptic world, but ultimately these are positive paintings, redemption exists, nature is alive, people are not alone. Early shows us a world deconstructed and put back together in an unsettling way, but there is a sense of celebration, stars twinkle, bright lights flash. A dream continues...