Review: Between You and Me and Everything Else
No large-sized paintings and big
frames. No bright illumination
against ruby wallpaper. Room
9 did not catch my eye at first
glance. However, this room has
been presenting an exhibition
named ‘Between You and Me
and Everything Else’ since 29
September 2018.
Local artist Leo Fitzmaurice
selected an assembly of portraits
from National Museums Liverpool
and the Arts Council Collection with a special intention. Clearly, I had no
awareness of this specialness when I walked into the room.
None of those artworks was provided with a single paragraph of
description, introducing the painter and historical background of each
piece. They seemingly possessed varying styles from different stages,
some Victorian whilst some more contemporary. In bewilderment, I
asked a staff member sitting in the corner against an empty wall.
She directed me to look at the painting hanging solely in the middle of
the wall opposite where she was seated. It was the back of a half-naked
female character, while her face was facing towards the ocean. As I
turned to the sidewalls, I realized it with amazement that each sitter in the
frame seemed to be looking in the same direction as I did. My attention
was too focused on each portrait to find out this hidden surprise.
In an interview Fitzmaurice said: ‘I suppose one general thing I’d like people
to get from [my work] is a kind of awareness about themselves being in a
room looking at other people, or portraits of people throughout history. If
anything, it’s a way of making people conscious about the act of looking.’
Fitzmaurice picked out each portrait because the direction where the sitter
was looking. By assembling them to match up with the back of Psamathe
(Frederic, Lord Leighton, 1879-80), Fitzmaurice creates links between
each distinctive character with this fictional goddess, and gives visitors
81