France-Lise McGurn

France-Lise McGurn (born 1983) works predominantly in painting. Her fluid, linear brush strokes often extend from the canvas onto the surrounding walls, incorporating furniture and other objects to create environments populated by imaginary figures.

In this installation, McGurn presents two works in neon inspired by depictions of the female form in fashion branding and advertising from the 1990s. 

The neons are visible day and night, transforming the space from a shopfront to something reminiscent of a nightclub entrance. Against a gently strobing light, the figures become beacons signalling life and human proximity in the urban night.

McGurn was inspired, in part, by My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), a classic of queer British cinema that was set in and around Lambeth, in which neon signage suggests the possibility of transgression and transformation amidst everyday life.

The title Hysteric Grammar is a play on words, referencing the 1990s clothing brand ‘Hysteric Glamour’. The brand featured a reclining nude in their logo, which is echoed by McGurn’s neon nude. 

The word ‘glamour’ originated from the word ‘grammar’ in Scots language, and represents a transformation from magic and language towards desire.