One of the most exciting fine art painters in the country has launched her new exhibition at the Customs House.

Concilium Plebis by Derby based artist Emma Tooth’s is a collection of work that focuses on “charvs”, “hoodies” and “scallys” who are arguably the life and character within our modern society.

The title of the exhibition means ‘a council of the ordinary people’ in Latin and has been funded by the Arts Council.

Generally only presented in the media in police portraits, CCTV footage and mocking TV shows, here the ASBO generation are presented in the style of Renaissance paintings, lit and posed like Caravaggio’s.

Emma Tooth said: “To get the models I literally grabbed strangers off of the street and whisked them to a studio where I was able to control the lighting and pose fully and take hundreds of photographs for reference that I could then take away and work on in my studio.

“The paintings in this show were all painted during 2008. The series is an ongoing project and several of the paintings in the show are brand new and have never been seen before.”

The images do not cheaply poke fun at the models; in fact the medium and style of the work encourages the viewer to find a gravitas and poignancy in the subjects.

Tooth has taken something thought of as ugly, threatening or ‘lowbrow’ and found beauty in it. She has encouraged people to face their fears and has engaged a completely new audience who would probably never have had their portrait painted and who otherwise would never have set foot in a gallery.

After all, entering an art gallery may be just as intimidating for a “Hoodie” as walking by him to enter a shop could be, for an elderly shopper.

Emma Tooth added: “I have loved working on the project. It has been wonderful to see an idea that popped into my head perhaps 3 years ago come to fruition and It’s wonderful to see them all together at the Customs House”.

To help launch the work UK/Ireland BBoy Champions Bad Taste Cru performed an intervention inspired by the work on show.

Visual Arts Development Officer Esen Kaya said: “This is a truly fantastic collection of work, which concentrates on an area of society that aren’t always portrayed in a nice way.

“I would urge everyone to come and see the work because it really is breathtaking”.

*Concilium Plebis runs in the Sandford Goudie Gallery until Sunday February 15. Opening times are 10am-8pm (Monday to Saturday) and 11am-8pm (Sunday). For more information visit www.customshouse.co.uk or www.emmatooth.co.uk

Info from:

Keir Waugh

The Customs House

South Shields

www.customshouse.co.uk

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