Chris Shaw

In Chris Shaw’s painting the process of paring down manages to concentrate rather than diminish. Idea and method meld as one; the physical and the conceptual combining in the most pleasing way. His practice is as much sculpture as it is painting; his works cast and assembled rather than rendered. Paint is manipulated after it has dried in the most considered way. These are methodical, meticulous works; self-consciously concerned with process and Painting’s past.

They manage to be both deadpan and theatrical; purposefully spare with flourishes that allude to something a little more frivolous (the ephemera of parties, drapery and costume in the case of the work shown here). Shaw’s is thoughtful work well made.



Paul Behnke

Paul Behnke’s paintings don’t skirt around the issue.
Subtlety is not their mode. His is full frontal painting; bold, engaging, direct. It is painting that deals with the strengths of painting itself. It is work about method and significant form; work that displays the process of the artist and rewards the viewer’s gaze. It may not always be fashionable to make work that is so specifically concerned with visual experience; but if it is good (and Behnke’s is) it will always be valid.

Kim Van Someren

On first glance Kim Van Someren’s output may not appear to fall within my remit. She doesn’t make paintings for a start. I am not, however, going to be constricted by my own title.
Van Someren’s works have much about them to admire. I like the labour, I like the quality of mark and I like the vehicle. Forts are evocative; they have interesting connotations.

The danger with charming work is that it can veer towards tweeness; fortunately Van Someren’s prints are forthright enough for this not to be an issue. Subject doesn’t eclipse the essential qualities of the pictures. They are robust and have a satisfying clarity.  

Vincent Hawkins

Seemingly compelled by a need to move forward Vincent Hawkins’ paintings are characterised by a feeling of experimentation that borders on restlessness.

This unwillingness (or perhaps inability) to settle means Hawkins’ practice is never static, never predictable. This is, of course, a great strength. Constant questing is risky but success makes it worth it and Hawkins’ hit rate is high. Paintings take from their predecessors, processes adapt and morph and the results are exciting.

Guy Yanai

There is a relaxed elegance to Guy Yanai’s paintings. A feeling of warmth and good light pervades. Characterised by a patchwork of shapes his works are assembled in a way that is both purposeful and deliberate. Blocks of solid colour butt up against one another describing surfaces and space; the skill with which they are balanced making the paintings resonate.  This is bright, sharp, observant painting.

William Bradley

Scale is an unavoidable issue in much of Bradley’s work. With his most expansive canvasses measuring more than 2m squared his paintings seem designed to confront.  

This size combined with bold, flat colour makes for work which on first glance appears quite competitive. These are not however art billboards selling abstraction. The imagery is at odds with the rest of the package. Bloated, bulbous abstract forms don’t bring home a message; they do not tell you something you need to know. Instead Bradley’s structures compete with the slickness of their execution. They remain elusive. Graphic yet slippery they seem intentionally obscure; like diagrams that fail to explain.

Bradley manages to deal with painting’s recent history without compromising his own activity, he makes pictures which avoid the obvious; work that both intrigues and absorbs.

Clare Price

Well structured and expansive.

Clare Price’s paintings open up space while retaining a clear sense of their own materiality. They are vibrant, dynamic works which catch the eye and pose interesting questions. The pixelated frameworks that hold the images together simultaneously look forwards and back, describing a digital world through the use of a now defunct computer program. It is painting that highlights the enduring need for painting; engaged work that does not labour its point.

Julian Wakelin

I have seen Julian Wakelin’s work in a number of shows recently and it never fails to make an impact on me.

Wakelin’s brand of abstract painting is scruffy and quite modest; but it is not casual. Careful consideration is evident. When making paintings like this it is very easy to fail; the purposefulness of this work should not go unrecognised. 

These are concentrated paintings but they are far from laboured or arduous.  They are works with a visual hook, images which intrigue without necessarily offering answers.

They are artworks that could only exist as abstract paintings.

Philip Miner

Bright, light and playfully inventive in a way that looks easy but patently isn’t; Philip Miner’s paintings exude warmth in every way possible.

They seem to be the joint product of good-nature and good weather. Strong colours are employed impeccably, balanced in a way that ensures they resound. Lightness does not mean lightweight however and Miner’s compositions are not simply superficially stylish. A kind of problem solving is clear within them, a ready intelligence, and it is this which makes them so convincing.

Damien Flood

At first glance the most striking thing about Damien Flood’s recent paintings (and the theme that connects them,) is a feeling of other-worldliness. Much of the imagery has something of the sci-fi about it; bleak unpopulated environments (land, space and sky); unclear and often ominous. They are depictions of curious places that don’t throw up conclusive answers.

On one level Flood is exercising one of painting’s great facilities; he is creating alternate worlds, painting the mythic and mystical. While this is undoubtedly part of the reason his paintings are so compelling anyone who has read any of my previous musings on painting will know that this is not chiefly where my interests lie.

Of primary interest to me is the economy of Flood’s methods in relation to the end result. What he manages to achieve with his approach. The use of paint is skilful and succinct and the success of the work is a result of this. Unfussy brushstrokes are not simply servants of the subject, they are of equal (if not greater) importance to the scene they represent.  Painting itself is being explored.

The indeterminate settings are a contributing layer, but it is the fashion with which they are rendered and the physical end result which resonates principally.

David Webb

Genuinely idiosyncratic.

The economy of David Webb’s paintings makes their unquestionable richness all the more impressive. Again and again a limited number of elements add up to more than the sum of their parts. The inventiveness of these pictures should not be underestimated; they are individual and elusive and as a result reward scrutiny.

Inga Dalrymple

This is visual goodness; positivity in paint.

Bold and tactile, Inga Dalrymple’s works manage lusciousness while maintaining clarity and direction. While often definably representational in nature (houses, vases, mugs and jugs are common motifs) it is clear that the reality of paint is of primary importance here. Extraneous narrative does not divert and it is not needed.

James Ferris

 

 

There is something very satisfying about James Ferris' paintings.

A straightforward process (which makes obvious reference to process itself) records the artist's actions in the clearest way and results in pictures that are both visually opulent and scruffy in equal measure.

Andrew Graves

Wilfully challenging and exploratory; Andrew Graves’ paintings don’t take the easy option.

Marks quest and compete; for the most part avoiding motif, and come together to give intriguing paintings that (one would imagine) even the artist himself could not fully predict.

While the outcome may not be planned it is clear that Graves does not rely on chance. There is evidently method; steps are undoubtedly deliberate, it’s just that the path they are progressing along isn’t well-trodden or overly familiar.

In avoiding obvious motif it may appear that Graves is purposefully making his own job harder but the risk pays off; the most difficult things often reward most handsomely. Graves’ paintings are not benign, they are active, and interesting because of it.

(standard) INTERVIEW

(fundamental) PAINTING is expanding.....

(standard) INTERVIEW is a straightforward, one-size-fits-all interview which aims to provide an insight into the work of contemporary painters about whom there is little already written.

as always... suggestions greatly appreciated.

Ian Homerston

There is no luck involved here.

Ian Homerston does something that is much more difficult than it looks. He makes spare paintings that are at once serious, engaging and absurd.

Part of the reason these paintings are so good is the efficiency and style of their methods. They manage to do a lot with seemingly very little. Each painting has a hook, an intriguing point or issue about Painting itself; and these hooks are genuinely compelling. They draw you in and point you towards something both primary and deep-seated. They present the qualities of the medium without attempting to over-explain. Moreover, they do so with a purposeful lack of clichéd artiness or design, something that gives them an irreverence that is particularly pleasing.  

Hugh Delap

Formal elements interacting in an illusory world.

Hugh Delap’s canvasses often have the feeling of stage sets. They are places of possibility; freed from overt subject while at the same time retaining a breadth of opportunity.

Bold, vibrant forms occupy spaces of considerable depth, existing like players in a fun but indefinite game. The structures he builds up appear weighty without ever being entirely static. Walls and piles are common motifs, perhaps an allusion to materiality and mass, themes that would certainly be appropriate. His works are playful but they are not flippant and it is clear that his decision making is both considered and purposeful. When experienced in the flesh they have significant physical appeal. Their surfaces are a guide to his process; mapping each picture’s production and inviting the viewer to consider the course of his enquiry.  

Trevor Sutton

Tal R

Ramshackle. Urgent. Engaging. Really good.

Clem Crosby

Lyrical and anarchic; fluid and bold.