Solo CONTEMPORARY VISIONARY, Virtual Reality show by DEGARD at The Royal College of Art, hosted on ARTSY by Laura I Gallery

To register to attend the Virtual Live Private View and listen to a talk by Degard herself, as she walks you through the virtual show from 7PM on Thursday 1st April 2021, please go to this link

New contemporary visionary show shines a spotlight on some of the world’s most desirable objects and asks what gives them such enduring appeal and magnetism.

RCA-trained Contemporary Visionary artist, alumna Dee Clayton (Degard) is showing her latest collection of paintings in the Virtual Reality (VR) exhibition Drip: Still Lifes, which will go live in its own virtual room on the global online art collection and discovery platform ARTSY, recorded directly from THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART on 29th March to 18 April 2021. After this the paintings will be on show at Vision On Gallery in Hertford.

Degard explores the controversial power in some of the things she has painted; from the Covid-19 vaccine to anti-feminist icons such as Barbie and many more. The Covid-19 Vaccine and its potential effects have torn families apart and divided opinion sharply. This event will help you have a wider awareness of how ‘things’ powerfully manipulate our lives, lifting the brainwashing of our consumerist society.

In Drip: Still Lifes Degard also captures some of the world’s most impactful brands, exploring the psychometry of high-end objects, brands and works of art.  Degard visualises the auras or energy fields around people, objects and even places. In this series, she captures the auras of many of the world’s most enduring luxury brands including Gucci, Moschino, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Paco Rabanne. This event may help the viewer develop a deeper awareness of how ‘things’ powerfully influence our lives. 

These objects can also create a type of transient happiness in our lives, leaving us with the question: ‘how does this transient happiness affect our well-being?’. Degard, working alongside of Anxiety UK (AUK), the UK’s largest charity for anxiety issues, attempts to uncover these emotional and spiritual drivers. Two of the paintings commissioned by AUK of the houses where it built the charity are included as part of the show. 

Molly Hackney, writer of the Medium’s Medium for Frieze 2019, says of Degard’s latest collection: “The canvases serve as gateways to question the charisma and glamour of luxury fashion (Gucci Ace Embroidered Sneaker £450 Aura Conscious); the power and influence of big-tech brands (Microsoft Aura Conscious); the eternal beauty of natural phenomenon (Roses and Blossom Aura Conscious)
and icons of art (Jeff Koons Balloon Dog Aura Conscious) and the power of that magnetism in our very homes and beloved pets (Home Aura Conscious, Buba the Rabbit Aura Conscious).’

Asked why she chose these companies, objects and pets, Degard said: “The idea for this collection began many years ago when my then 12-year-old daughter, Grace, asked me to buy her a Burberry raincoat. I was absolutely astonished, that she wanted a luxury brand at this age! (she didn’t get it btw!). This experience made me realise that what we are buying, using, owning in all our cars, clothes, pets, homes – what we are searching for and feeling is in fact the Aura.  Grace had picked up on this magnetism in a brand, a magnetism we can feel through desire or revulsion. This feeling is the unique Aura.”

After the virtual walk and talk by Degard, Laura I Gallery will join for a Question and Answer session. A surprise celebrity guest will be in attendance and the private view will be brought to a close with an ‘out of this world’ conversation with Astro-Politics luminary Dr Eligar Sadeh.

Following the VR showing of Drip, a selection of this work will be exhibited in the VisionOn Gallery in Hertford from 21st April 2021 to time with COVID-19 venue restrictions being eased. 

For a handcrafted VR display of some of the work which will go live on ARTSY on 29th March, please view here: https://www.degard.org/exhibitions-events/drip-still-lifes/

You can view some of Degard’s work already showing on ARTSY here: https://www.artsy.net/artist/degard/works-for-sale