The Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair has opened its doors again for 2024, and the April edition has been a wonderful opportunity for a journey into the world of colour, reflection, and imagination. Walking through the beautifully curated stands on that beautiful Sunday morning at Green Park Station, chatting to the artists was the most natural and pleasant thing to do. Well, after contemplating their work of course! Everyone was inspiring, everyone in a unique way. Today we will start with the women celebrating women, in all their shapes, nuances and forms.
Ruby’s paintings strike the eye immediately. The vibrant colours are surely a reflection of the artist’s smile and enthusiasm. Ruby is the mum of two children, and today she is exhibiting, among the rest, a painting representing an image of herself, just after giving birth to her second child. The painting is the biggest and brightest of all, and shows the beauty of the female body, still carrying the signs of the life it has looked after for nine months and just welcome to the world. And these signs are shown with pride, because being proud of them is right. Yes, because the female body doesn’t owe anyone to go back to its original shape straight after giving birth. Ruby is very passionate about this.
A few stands after we speak to Maria, who has got herself as her own muse. And why not? The human body is a work of art in itself, and to its owner it is free to use! Maria’s beautiful photos show the female body under an elegant and delicate perspective, thanks to the clever use of light and shade. Maria uses her own body to tell the world how powerful women are: her Little Red Riding Hood, when seen from the back, might appear as a fragile prey. But when we look at her from the front, the expression of her face is scarier than the wolf’s. And of course, Maria does not hide the so-called imperfections, which are natural on any woman’s skin. Women are powerful, women are beautiful, no matter what their shape, no matter what their story, no matter what their age.
Round the corner there’s Cath, who has most of her fun with costume and performance design. Her women, who come in many shapes and expressions, are often models showcasing beautiful clothes or interesting situations. Her style sometimes takes us back to the smoky ‘20s, sometimes takes us to Japan, sometimes it tells us what the atmosphere may have felt like in a boudoir, or during a fashion show. When her women take their clothes off, a minimal number of simple, curved long lines play the trick, producing incredibly elegant figures, so elegant that one may wonder if they would ever need to wear anything at all.
By EDB
