Duel – Lily Bunney + Rachel Clancy at texture

texture presents Duel – Lily Bunney + Rachel Clancy, a two-artist show of artifice and illusion with a minimalist twist.

It’s no secret that our attention spans could do with some help, so whether you’re a regular gallery goer or just pop in every now and then, we’re all sometimes guilty of rushing through an exhibition and spending no more than a few seconds with each work. We’re busy, distracted or maybe nothing in particular catches the eye.

Duel puts trust in the viewer and quite literally prevents you from rushing through it: the show features only two paintings and a viewing platform. Curator Will Marshall sensed that Lily Bunney and Rachel Clancy’s work benefits from a longer viewing time and created the perfect set-up to facilitate the encounter. 

The gallery itself is mostly taken up by a large wooden platform with cushions that you can comfortably sit on and with the two pieces in front of you, side by side on one wall. 

Lily Bunney’s pixelated paintings are a meditation on the ways in which we consume digital imagery online. She considers how our increasing dependence on the online realm affects the way we form relationships. Her works touch on intimacy, friendship, girlhood and the way these are both translated into digital content – in her hands, they become tangible. Visually incoherent close-up, Bunney’s paintings start to make sense when viewed from further away. (Top tip if you’re short sighted – take off your glasses!)

Rachel Clancy is a figurative painter, whose work is rooted in illusion and visual trickery. She portrays light-filled interiors with reflective surfaces, clashing patterns and mysterious objects, all with an air of reverence. An antithesis to the constantly changing nature of digital imagery, experiencing Clancy’s work in person inspires stillness and has the rare quality of making you want to stay with it for as long as possible.

The two works deserve a longer encounter for very different reasons and the brave curatorial choices behind Duel make it possible. The gallery itself is a quiet oasis hidden in the middle of Ardwick’s industrial estate – Duel offers a welcome refuge from the chaos of the outside world, and perhaps even our own inner noise.

texture is open by appointment so check out their Instagram page for more information and to book a visit.