"Arrangements" by Mark Tan

Arrangements, a debut solo exhibition by Mark Tan, presents more than 80 prints and drawings produced in the UK and Malaysia between 2013 to 2017 that investigate memory, time and place through subject matter and the artistic process.

The processes of printmaking and drawing reflect how memory is captured, firstly how it is immortalised into a photographic record, then abstracted and transferred onto a printing plate, and finally imprinted onto paper. This also embraces elements of chance which affect and alter the image, comparative to how changing and fading memories create new realities of how we interpret ourselves and those around us. What results is an intended tension between Tan’s quest for perfection and the inconsistent outcomes of his chosen medium.

Tan's monochromatic images suggest flashbacks to the past whilst simultaneously referencing the black and white clarity of text on a page. These shapes and particularities are Tan's mind at work — the true subject of the exhibition itself. A quiet introspection of how he relates to his environment expressed across fragments of thought, ever changing and shifting. One minute filled with clarity and confidence, and the next deconstructed and hazy like perception itself, a different understanding every day. But only the artist can decipher the intense concentrations of energy that his black shapes, tangled lines, textured scratchings and inky portals emit. Arrangements is rather a reflection of a disciplined student who practices on a daily basis, subconsciously shaping and sharpening his instincts in creative processes that pivot around the search for perfection. Lost in these dark voids and empty spaces, viewers are encouraged to simply enjoy the mysteries of this romanticised body of research, as a personal geography of space and time, memories old and new.

Admission is free.

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