Shani Rhys James Antigone Automated

Shani Rhys James Antigone Automated

CHORUS (Quote from Antigone by Jean Anouilh)
“The spring is wound up tight. It will uncoil of itself. That is
what is so convenient in tragedy. The least little turn of the wrist will do
the job. Anything will set it going:
lifting her arms to her hair as you go by;
a glance at a girl who happens to be
a feeling when you wake up on a
fine morning that you’d like a little respect paid to you today, as if it were
as easy to order as a second cup of coffee;
one question too many, idly
thrown out over friendly drink
and the tragedy is on.
—
The rest is automatic. You don’t need to lift a finger.
Friction. Death, treason, and sorrow are on the march; and they move in
The machine is in perfect order; it has been oiled ever since time began, and it runs without
the wake of storm, of tears, of stillness. Every kind of stillness.”
Antigone is an example of someone who didn’t compromise. She knew the consequences of burying her
brother Polynices would be fatal and she would be walled up for her actions. But she felt it had to be done. As
an artist in this time and as a painter, I feel that I have been swimming against the tide. To see it out by living
in an isolated spot with no escape and just paint for thirty years has been a little like being under the radar,
walled up, in a sense, by choice, quietly just getting on with it - knowing it was for the long term, to listen to
one’s own truth and slowly develop, and there have been no short cuts.
Shani Rhys James, 2015
Black Cot II, oil on canvas, 210 x 210 cm
2

Yellow Dress Black Jacket, oil on canvas, 245 x 336 cm
5

6
Bed and Wallpaper, oil on canvas, 210 x 210 cm

The Actress, oil on canvas, 137 x 105 cm
9

10
Mam a Merch, oil on canvas, 154 x 154 cm

12
Red Dolls House, mixed media automata sculpture with sound, height 142 cm

14
Red Ground, oil on canvas, 210 x 180 cm

Child & Pram, oil on canvas, 180 x 180 cm
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Pram, mixed media automata sculpture, height 80 cm

Study for Automata, mixed media on paper, 50 x 70 cm
Study of Pram, mixed media on paper, 50 x 70 cm
20

Study for Cot Series, mixed media on paper, 84 x 118 cm
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22
Tapping Hand, mixed media automata sculpture with sound, height 160 cm

Blue Top, oil on canvas, 183 x 244 cm
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26
Red Ground II, oil on canvas, 244 x 244 cm

28
Giant Black Chandelier, oil on canvas, 153 x 102 cm

Flock Wallpaper, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm
Bedsit III, oil on canvas, 61 x 61 cm
29

Shaking Cot, mixed media automata sculpture, height 112 cm
31

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The Cot, oil on canvas, 180 x 210 cm

Inner Room, oil on canvas, 180 x 210 cm
35

36
Roundy Round, mixed media automata sculpture, height 165 cm

Chicken Coop III, oil on canvas, 183 x 213 cm
39

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Chicken Coop II, oil on canvas, 183 x 213 cm

42
Head 1 - 7, oil on board, 18 x 13 cm each

Revisited / Studio Head, oil on canvas, 31 x 25 cm
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Figure in the Shadows, oil on board, 60 x 30 cm

One Passing Moment, oil on canvas, 80 x 40 cm
45

Shani Rhys James has developed over a long and distinguished career a unique and highly personal
style of intense psychological power. Taking almost exclusively the female figure - frequently herself
- as her subject, Rhys James has continued to explore the role of women within domestic spaces.
In recent work the female figure has become entwined with images of flowers, either in the wallpaper
that surrounds them or as part of a still life composition. In Rhys James’s paintings these forms take on
a life of their own, subverting the traditional ‘feminine’ arts of still life painting and home decorating.
Rhys James has exhibited continuously throughout her career and won many awards including the
prestigious Jerwood Painting Prize in 2003. Her work is also featured in collections throughout the
UK, including the National Museum of Wales and Arts Council of England. ‘The Rivalry of Flowers’ a
publication on her work was produced in 2013, featuring an essay by critic Edward Lucie-Smith. She
was recently filmed by BBC for the series ‘What Do Artists Do All Day’.
Mallett, Nail & Petals, oil on board, 50 x 100 cm
46

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Antigone Automated’ by Shani Rhys James
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