RIDE OR DIE

LA BIBI + REUS presents Ride or Die, a solo exhibition by Scottish artist Sophie Vallance Cantor in which contrasting emotions and life experiences take centre stage and become a metaphor for the healing process. Referencing the phrases “Ride it out” and “Die trying”, the artist reflects the duality present in healing.

The works presented act as self-portraits and testimonies of a process of personal advancement through constant, exhilarating movement. Vallance Cantor realises that, in order to avoid problems, one must be continuously evolving. Within this process, the protagonists of the works that make up the exhibition—the artist, her partner, and her cats—are essential figures who serve as pillars in moments of instability and also of “full throttle” progress.

At the same time, the spectator remains in a position of observation, not of active participation in the artist’s world. The self-portraits are constantly changing and evolving; they live through the canvases. Within these works there are contrasting scenes that evoke courage and strength alongside representations that suggest feelings of sadness or introspection. Through a closer look and a process of association, we see how, in the end, these are not completely different states, but rather exist as a binomial. Moments of introspection and stillness are what generate the movement of our mind and body—of great emotions, of progress, and also, of collapse.

In this series of new paintings, the artist introduces lighting with a moody, emotional effect. Here, fluorescent neon lights call back to the brightly lit nighttime streets of New York. We can see the glow of neon in a seedy speakeasy, the twinkling lights of a faraway metropolis, the neon reflections on growling tigers, the sunset over the horizon, and the low light in a gloomy therapist’s office. These lights belong to memories and life experiences, while also taking on a metaphorical aspect: they are reflections of reflection, of self-illumination within the healing process that shapes the project.

Throughout the show, we encounter a multitude of contrasting characters—whether that be a fierce motorbike driver racing through the streets of New York under neon lights, or a pensive smoker contemplating the emptiness of her lonely room. We see affable domestic cats transformed into wild felines, as embodiments of the emotions that overflow the artist’s mind, while also symbolising the unconditional support so necessary in this process. The show is filled with atmospheric and suggestive scenes that can be understood as disordered frames of the same film. It is a distant journey in which the spectator can contemplate, in the third person, the overwhelming and disconcerting emotions experienced by our protagonist—without being able to establish a linear route.