Predatory Drawings 2012-13

The drawings in this series of exhibitions borrow themes from well-known folkloric tales, in particular the Bluebeard story and Little Red Riding Hood. Rather than illustrations, these drawings focus on key ideas examined within the stories and identify the archetypical nature of the characters featured, such as The Predator and the Innocent. The universal nature of themes and archetypes described within these stories, and in much older mythology, is identified by Carl Jung as commonly held human dilemmas and challenges.

GRIM TALES. Greg Couzens Salon Rochdale 2012-13
The show was specifically selected for this hairdressing salon; a richly decorated gothic-style interior (referencing local Rochdale Town Hall) providing an aptly atmospheric environment for these ‘dark’ pictures which feature the hairy, severed beard of the main protagonist!

The project ‘Grim Tales’ is in collaboration with artist Alice Smith and forms the first part of a series of exhibitions held in the context of the salon.
This exhibition is a Hive Project

www.gregorycouzens.com
www.hiveprojects.org

BLUEBEARD. Galleria Mirionima, Macerata, Italy, 2013
In association with, Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata, Italy.
This solo exhibition was accompanied by a talk in the gallery about the origins of the drawings and their relationship to the ideas of Carl Jung in his Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious.

DARK AND DANGEROUS. Ebor Studio. Rochdale Festival of Literature and Ideas 2013
The event combined an exhibition of the Bluebeard and Woolf drawings and a storytelling event with storyteller Vickie Orton of Shaggy Dog Storytellers.
In association with MoorEnd Development Trust.

www.rochdaleliteraturefestival.co.uk
www.moorendtrust.org.uk
www.shaggydogstorytellers.com