Live in Your Head

Techniques associated with sound and music production are put to use in Roy Immanuel’s practice through a process of transposition in painting, installation and documentary. Audio and visual sampling is used to reference a diverse array of source material, which may be factual, fictional, biographical or autobiographical. These disparate subjects are brought together through a system of layering, and establish new meanings as they subvert one another. Feedback loops are used as a means to erase pre-existing structures while simultaneously building up new more complex ones in their place.

Using a variety of different mediums including painting, sound, text and documentary, Roy Immanuel’s practice explores themes relating to the secular tradition in the arts and its value to state institutions. Referencing various state artists and state artist programmes, such as Graham Sutherland’s war paintings and the WPA (Works Progress Agency), these studies look at how public institutions make use of art’s cultural capital and its historical associations.

Roy Immanuel (b. 1983) lives and works in London. In 2014 he received an MA from the Royal College of Art. He is the 2014 recipient of the Hine painting prize. Exhibitions include I am sitting in a room, Art Night 2019, Waltham Forrest, London (2019), I am sitting in a room, Barbican Arts Group trust, Waltham Forrest, London (2019), Teratology, Barbican Arts Group Trust, Waltham Forest, London (2018), Saltpetre King, Casa Amaru Cultural, Lima (2018), Mise-en-scène, Chelsea Waterside, London (2017), Subjective Reality, Shanghai MOCA, Shanghai (2016), Whistle Piece, Offtape Studios, London (2015), Xianshang Art Fair, Shanghai (2015), ECHO, The Function Room, London (2014), A New Circle, Forbidden City Gallery, Shanghai (2014), Show RCA, Royal College of Art, London (2014)