Candice Tripp - ‘HOME IS WHERE THE TELLY IS’
at Lazarides Gallery Newcastle
14 November 2008 – 31 January 2009


Lazarides Gallery is pleased to present Home is Where the Telly is, a new series of work by Candice Tripp. South African born Tripp has created a new body of work that deals with the unsettling images of the unexpected, presented in carefully executed ink and paint. Small girls in candy coloured dresses encounter strange beasts, and yet not all is quite as it seems, as we are led into a world where dainty and dark collide.
Tripp’s new paintings are an enticing mélange of brutal but witty, with multilayered meanings and sub-surface stories. Her work is beautiful and illustrative, but simultaneously displays a depth that goes beyond the slew of the street art that decorates rather than demonstrates. The paintings are funny and quirky, thoughtful and inviting. Works such as ‘Do You Think Your Mom Will Notice?’ describe the familiarity of home and cute, cuddly animals with a cheeky nod in the direction of bloody violence. The works resonate with an innocence that steers clear of societal commentary, choosing instead to youthfully represent grown-up scenarios, or childish scenarios with a grown-up twist, such as in Still Rocking (illustrated above).

This exhibition is Tripp’s first solo exhibition at Lazarides Newcastle, which has played host to a series of shows by both established and emerging artists. Home is Where the Telly is will feature a site-specific installation, twenty new, original works and limited edition prints.
Born in 1985, Candice Tripp left South Africa in 2004 to settle in the UK. In 2005 she moved to Newcastle where she now lives. She had her first solo show at Electrik Sheep in April 2007. She has exhibited in Los Angeles, London, Newcastle, Vienna and Berlin and lives in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Tripp is self-taught, so while she is not a street or urban artist, she is a most welcome addition to the Lazarides stable of artists.