Contemporary Painting April 2018
Contemporary Painting April 2018
CONTEMPORARY PAINTING
24th April – 7th May 2018
Preview: Wednesday 25th April 18:00 – 20:30
The Brick Lane Gallery – The Annexe, 93 – 95 Sclater Street, London
ALISTAIR BECKER | GRACE GREEN | LARANJO | MICK HOLLINGWORTH | ELZA NAFIKOVA | KYLIE GRILLS | VOLODYMYR SINUSIK | IRENE BASTIERI | FEAD
Alistair Becker exhibits a combination of Ink on Paper and Acrylic on Canvas works at the Brick Lane Gallery. Alastair’s Ink work pays homage to his time in Asia, cleverly marrying Japanese calligraphy techniques and mediums including Japanese’ Sumi’ inks with more traditional western mediums such as watercolours and acrylics. Bold yet subtle use of black inks and paints reflect shadows that would otherwise go unnoticed with trademark accents of colour bringing personality, emotion and a sense of fun to many of the pieces. In his abstract work, looking to express himself in different ways, Alastair built on the success of his trademark artworks using Japanese ‘Sumi’ ink by releasing his first collection of contemporary abstract art works in January 2018 following a number of eagerly awaited commissioned abstracts. His abstracts showcase his array of creative skills with their unique qualities capturing one’s gaze time and time again.
www.papagprints.com | https://www.instagram.com/papa_g_prints/
Grace Green is a British artist who studied painting at Falmouth School of Art from 2013 to 2016. Her exotically colourful works command the attention of the viewer. ‘These paintings focus on the fruitfulness and fecundity of life in all its forms but principally the absorption in organic growth. Considering the idea of a glasshouse acting as an incubator to the plants, protecting them from harsher climates, they create a safe place to enable plants to nourish and grow, much like the mother’s womb. Sometimes the abstracted plant forms represent in my mind the microscopic cell structures in nature. Sometimes less organic forms such as chicken- wire have been introduced as a reminder of constraints that are placed by man over nature. But throughout the primary desire is for focusing on growth, nurture, transformation, and more recently a figure is present, introducing the feeling of interaction between human and nature’.
http://www.gracegreenartist.co.uk | https://www.instagram.com/graceellengreen | https://www.facebook.com/gracegreenpaint/
Laranjo’s Oil and Acrylic works make use of a warm palette, breaking down figures into curved geometric parts. He blends one figure into another, with highlights that create the effect of motion, as if the figures are morphing in front of our eyes. Laranjo is a Brazilian/Portuguese artist born in 1975. He graduated in Visual Arts from the State University of Londrina, Brazil. In this exhibition, the sets of the “Interlaced” will be displayed, which have been produced since 2000. He presents a ‘set of paintings produced around lines that surround the couple, immersed in each other, sharing an intimate moment. The spaces were filled in halftone. When they united in a hug, the two figures became one, representing the eternal union between the man and the woman’.
https://www.instagram.com/ricardolaranjoquadros/ | https://www.facebook.com/ricardolaranjoquadros | https://www.flickr.com/photos/ricardolaranjo/sets/
Mick Hollingworth is a British born artist who graduated from Nottingham College of Art in 1968. He has had an extensive career painting, exploring social commentary, political criticism, and more recently colour & structure. The current paintings have evolved from the latter phase, with a new confidence producing more dynamic and expansive work. Notable exhibitions include those at Gainsborough House, The Minories and The Chelsea Arts Club. He has also exhibited abroad in Sweden, Germany and Crete. He continues to work from his studio in Suffolk. ‘Having visited the south of Crete for forty years, it is only recently I have found a way of expressing the landscape by highlighting its atmosphere, contrasting textures to interpret the island’s dramatic terrain. By using decorating tools (spatulas etc.) as well as brushes, I was able to exaggerate differences in the application of paint. Many of these new works juxtapose the rugged coastline of Crete against the Lybian Sea, and were partly inspired by having seen Spanish landscape paintings by David Bomberg’.
mickhollingworthartist.blogspot.co.uk | facebook.com/mickhollingworthartist | https://www.instagram.com/art_by_mick/ | twitter.com/art_by_mick
Elza Nafikova’s abstract works recall the work of American Abstract Expressionists, with visible brush strokes allowing the viewer to engage with the process of their creation. Elza is a Russian born artist who has been exhibiting her work since 1999. By 2002, Elza engaged in printed graphics, working with the technique of linocut and dry point. Her works are displayed in museum and private collections across the globe. ‘The world is various and multifaceted. In my works I express emotions and feelings that arise in different situations of my life. I feel the energy of life and show it through the color, stain, texture, with different ways of painting and graphics. It is more important and interesting for me than passing a simple similarity’.
https://www.instagram.com/elza.nafikova/ | elsdei.com | vk.com/elza.nafikova | facebook.com/elza.nafikova
Kylie Grills is a twenty-four-year-old Australian artist, creating works where aesthetics are secondary. Their function is first and foremost, to remind the beholder of all that they already are. Often working under the brand name and alias ‘Frankincense & Myrrh’, Kylie creates largely by commission and also has a line of more accessible everyday items. Using social media as a platform to be transparent about things that we often don’t hit the ‘share’ button on, storytelling through an open diary is perhaps one of the main reasons her work resonates with people. These three pieces quite literally rest on a foundation of Kylie’s poetry, unpacking topics which have proved some of the most challenging to date. Subscribing to the ‘heal yourself in order to heal this world’ concept, she creates pieces that are true to her own heart. While she hopes they speak to another in the same way they have been of service to her, she recognises that this part is not in her control. Believing that showing up as ourselves – is both hard enough, and good enough.
https://www.instagram.com/frankincense.myrrh/ | www.kyliegrills.com | www.facebook.com/frankincense.myrrh
Irene Bastieri is an Italian artist who works with a combination of pencil and acrylic paint, applied with brush and marker. Stones taken from necklaces are also often glued to the canvas offering a variation in texture. Irene focuses on representing the energy of life, often through stylized trees and spirals representing the ever present notion of time. On her work, Irene explains ‘I slept for a long time…then colour woke me up. I had a big white canvas that had been calling me for over ten years. I thought, what do I represent? A woman, a landscape? No. I want to start over with my style, only with my style.’
https://www.instagram.com/irenebastreri/ | https://www.facebook.com/Irenebastreriarte/
Volodymyr Sinusik is a Ukrainian artist who uses thick brush strokes and bold colours to separate the planes and forms in his work. An admirer of Old Master paintings, he sought to flee from traditional lessons and focus on finding his won style of painting, incorporating his own signature style into his landscape and still life scenes. Sinusik seeks out harmonious colours, and focuses not on representing objects from real life, but on the combination of colours together.
https://www.instagram.com/vladimirsinusik/
FEAD is a Contemporary Artist who’s work points towards cartoon animation. His humourous paintings use bold eye catching colours to draw in the viewer, also using text to support visual imagery. At the Brick Lane Gallery FEAD is exhibiting four works on canvas, including ‘Bad Grandma’.
https://www.instagram.com/feadtheartist/
If you wish to know more about our programme of exhibitions or if you want to become a future exhibitor email us at info@thebricklanegallery.com
