Master of Fine Art School of Fine Art

Louise Campion

(She/Her)

painting men in suits, drawing pain in thoughts

Louise Campion is a French artist who lives and works between Glasgow (UK), Montreal (Tiohtià:ke – Mooniyang; Canada) and Paris (France). She holds a BFA (Hons) in Studio Arts from Concordia University (Montreal) and is just completing her MFA (Hons) at the Glasgow School of Art, for which she was awarded The Ranald and Jennifer May Postgraduate Painting Scholarship.

Primarily interested in painting and drawing, Campion’s practice focuses on the exploration of consciousness and emotional survival within a context of global violence. In this exhibition, she is displaying pieces from two separate ongoing projects: The attractive value of greed (also called Wondering if men in suits turn me on or piss me off), a series of oil paintings examining the worshipped aesthetics of the Western corporate world and its singular vision of reality, focusing on the depiction of power and charisma through the body language of the figures. And The human head is really heavy, a series of red ink drawings on handmade paper in recycled fibres, more intuitive and naive, in which she explores her personal thoughts and feelings towards the ecosystem she navigates.

Extremely mindful of her environmental impact, Louise adopted a couple of methods over the years to lower it to a minimum. She learned to build her canvases, hand-make her own paper (from recycled bed sheets here for example), to mix her own paint using traditional techniques (oil, egg tempera, water-colour), recycle her solvent -inter alia.

Campion has exhibited works internationally, in galleries such as the Fofa Gallery (Montreal), WASPS South Block Gallery (Glasgow) or The Untitled Space (NYC, USA). She was part of notable art initiatives such as Artch-Emerging Contemporary Art, Art Souterrain Festival, the International Festival of Films on Art (Montreal) amongst others. She maintains a studio practice through grants and residencies, which she pairs with research jobs, stimulating projects, curation and writing. She recently organized exhibitions at the New Glasgow Society and the Haberdashery (Glasgow), and published essays for ISSAY magazine (Calgary, Ca).

Contact
louise.campion@outlook.fr
l.campion1@student.gsa.ac.uk
Website
Instagram
Series
Wondering if men in suits turn me on or piss me off
The human head is really heavy

Wondering if men in suits turn me on or piss me off

Louise Campion is fascinated by the corporate world. Its specific aesthetic, mindset and mannerisms, display a public appeal she aspires to understand and question. Through her series of paintings Wondering if men in suits turn me on or piss me off (also called The attractive value of greed), she explores the unwritten rules of the extremely codified office environment, while simultaneously challenging the motivations driving its players. Campion is particularly intrigued by their conception of priorities – what is important. She focuses the energy of her compositions on the portrayal of power and charisma through the body language of her figures —especially in the bust, the position of the shoulders, and the gesture of the hands, creating then an atmosphere of strength in her images which she accentuates with the use of bright and contrasting colour pairings. She likes to play with her medium, subject and viewer, through striking titles and subtle humorous hints. In this installation she particularly increased her scale, aiming for the intimidation factor to kick in and an important inquisition to flourish: Through her research, Campion investigates the aesthetic of the western corporate world and its singular vision of reality, observing and questioning the attractive value of greed.

John at home

Oil on canvas. 203 x 152,5 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request

John at work

Oil on canvas. 244 x 183 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request

The adventures of John

Exhibition view. MFA Degree Show 2024. Glue Factory (Glasgow, UK).

Work buddies

Oil on canvas. 100 x 140 cm. 2024.

David

Oil on canvas. 150 x 200 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request

The human head is really heavy

This series of drawings, contrasting with her usual painting work, is really personal. Using paper that she made herself, Campion began a diaristic approach to drawing. The aim of this research is to reconnect to the idea of spontaneity within the creative process, and to take a step back from deep conceptual dialectic. The human head is really heavy consists of a simple production system, which will gain strength with time and abundance:

1. her pink handmade paper / red ink
2. images of the daily and friends / thoughts and observations she makes regarding the ecosystem she wander in
3. her intuitive drawing style / her handwriting

By implementing a system, Campion allows her personal feelings to be at the forefront of the work, with the hope that her public will find comfort in relatability. As our Western way of life leaves a lot of us feeling isolated and stranded, the artist wants people to know that they are not alone. In fact, this very idea of isolation as a commonality between us can bring us together to then, in time, inspire action. Her current practice focuses on the exploration of awareness and emotional survival in a context of global violence. The goal with this series, other than reconnecting with the concept of naive artistic practice, is to express herself and spark conversations on topics like mental health, hypersensitivity, social fights, eco-anxiety and more -while drawing the things that give her comfort: her places, her friends.

The human head is really heavy n.42

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres, 27.9 x 21.6 cm, 2024
For Sale: Price on Request

The human head is really heavy n.38

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres. 27,9 x 21,6 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request
Exhibition view. 2024.

The human head is really heavy n.39

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres. 27,9 x 21,6 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request
Curatorial process. 2023.

The human head is really heavy n.41

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres. 27,9 x 21,6 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request

The human head is really heavy n.40

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres. 27,9 x 21,6 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request
Paper-making process. 2019.

The human head is really heavy n.44

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres. 27,9 x 21,6 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request

The human head is really heavy n.37

Red ink drawing on handmade paper in recycled fibres. 27,9 x 21,6 cm. 2024.
For Sale: Price on Request