British Council British Council Visual Arts

Toby Ziegler’s painting in the exhibition was only recently titled “I’m ready for love”, 2002. The titles bear no relation to the subject matter of the paintings, but rather act as a signpost to the thought processes of the artist at the time. There seems to be a kind of conflict running through the artists work, between the technical and mechanical, and a more gestural and emotional impulse. The painting begins its life in a computer software programme. The extreme, central perspective, as mathematically precise as a Canaletto, is also the familiar terrain of computer games. In some works completed more recently, the meticulous painting in of geometric detail occasionally breaks down, and there are areas where the brushwork becomes almost gestural, as if maybe the artist lost patience with the process.

The Scotch-Brite material which Ziegler uses as a support is the highly reflective fabric normally employed for safety wear by the emergency services. Used as a canvas, it glows in direct light like a computer screen. Images painted on this support are unstable: as the viewer moves from one side of the (usually large-scale) works across to the other, different readings present themselves. Seen from one angle, “I’m ready for love” appears to be a field of intricate geometric designs, such as Islamic art uses to invoke the sublime purity of cosmic geometry. A few steps on and a structure emerges, and perspective reveals itself. What could be read as a mosque is in fact Sizewell B nuclear power station.

Supernova, British Council, London 2005