Veil of Veronica

2024-07-20 -> 2024-08-24

Big Ramp is pleased to announce Veil of Veronica. A joint show of paintings by the artists Conor MacCormack and Lindsay Thomson. The Veil of Veronica often called simply the Veronica, is a Christian relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than human means (an acheiropoieton, "made without hand"). Various existing images have been claimed to be the original relic, as well as early copies of it. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the name "Veronica" is a colloquial portmanteau of the Latin word 'vera', meaning "truth", and Greek 'eikon', meaning "image"; the Veil of Veronica was therefore largely regarded in medieval times as "the true image", and the truthful representation of Jesus, preceding the Shroud of Turin. Repetition and symbolization as tools for enlightenment and truth-seeking are crucial aspects of both Conor and Lindsay’s artistic practices. Both artists work in a range of mediums but primarily focus on painting and drawing. The works range in scale and in surface, from the body referential stretched canvases, to the collections of small works on paper. Using symbols, similar in form and function to those found in traditional depictions of Jesus, they are able to uncover the inherent paradox: the artistic act that feels both essential and somewhat futile, an effort marred by the impossibility of achieving true replication or understanding. The works in Veil of Veronica play with these clichés and confessions, navigating between them without seeking resolutions, allowing contradictions and layers to coexist and inform each other.