Studies in [E]motion and Time
selected works by Paul Holmes
Opening March 14, 6 pm
Exhibition until April 18 2020
Describe your image
Paul Holmes’s practice is rooted in action: the essential gestures, movements and emotions that constitute our physical lives and through which we move inexorably through time. This motion in time is what unites the works in this exhibition:
We observe how our perception of movement is manufactured by the combination of static frames through the cinematic technique of editing. We witness the flow of multitudes passing anonymously through the city and try exercises to reverse the ravages of age. We catch the minutiae of facial expression that accompanies the creative process and sense the tiny peristaltic pressures that move matter within our bodies.
This exhibition provides a handful of glimpses into the primacy of the time dimension in Paul Holmes’s work, a primacy that echoes the dominance it has over all of our lives.
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Paul Holmes’s practice focuses on the gestures and actions of the human face, voice and body.He uses still images, light, film, graphics and sound to renegotiate our understanding of modes of expression and viewing, of narrative and performance, often taking himself as the subject.Pared-down and isolated, frequently viewed in close-up and robbed of their context, the simple movements, expressions and sounds captured in the works carry meanings that go unseen in standard spatial and temporal frames.Paul Holmes spent two decades as a director in film and television before redirecting his practice towards visual art. He currently teaches at the School of Arts and Creative Industries, Edinburgh Napier University and has given talks and workshops around the world.