Visit to #LowryArtGallery to see #ChantalJoffe

Fancying some fresh air, we decided to go to the Quays and this gave us the chance to see the latest exhibition by Chantal Joffe. at the Lowry Centre.

On entering the rooms, the first impression is that these are in quite a naïve style, with loosely painted images. The paintings explore motherhood and show  Esme, Joffe's daughter, as she grows up. These images are enhanced by the juxtapositioning of mother and daughter within the canvas.

As you become immersed in the paintings, the images start to convey messages of the interactions between groups or feelings of awkwardness in adolescence. Joffe has played around with different viewpoints and  we found the way that she hadn't always painted the full heads of her subjects unusual and interesting.

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The artist also pays homage to Paula Modersohn Becker, who was a key figure in the development of Modernism in the early 20th century and is probably the first Western woman artist, to paint herself naked. The information said, 'Her frank, but intimate approach defied expectations of how the female body should be painted, as defined by her male counterparts'.

​You can see several pictures that represent similar poses from both artists.

So, to sum up, an exhibition that surprises you; at first you see a picture and think the eyes are painted wrong or that is not a natural pose but this is where an artist can convey more than a photograph. Well worth a visit.