Mute Objects of Expression

Still Life : Mute Objects of Expression

Reimagining the Still Life

Thursday 3rd March - Sunday 1st May 2022

Linda Brill - Christine Clarke - Helen Clarke - Gill Hamilton - Mike Holcroft - Sarah Philpott - Malcolm Taylor - Ian Taylor - Dominic Vince - Ebony Andrews

Looking, experiencing, interpreting, doing, and looking again, and again is what Artists do. 

“Always go back to the object itself, its raw quality, its difference...” 

Francis Ponge, 24 May 1941 Taking its title from a book by the French poet Francis Ponge, Mute Objects of Expression invites us to look again at the everyday objects that surround us. 

The contemplative nature of Still Life may seem rather at odds with our fast 10 second concentration span.  Spend time with virtuoso works by these fine artists and you will enter a wonderful world of paint itself, conveying so many different aspects seeing and painting.

Linda Brill’s intricate oil paintings feature the classical subjects of still life such as flowers, fruit and vegetables, using layered glazes to capture and focus our attention on the contemplative beauty of their innate qualities.  Gill Hamilton’s works have a different contemporary feel, using acrylic on board and incorporating non-traditional perspectives including views from above. 

By suspending the central image in Mike  Holcroft’s oils paintings he emphasises the object, not the subject.  He steps away from any narrative though perception is a key issue including  the illusionistic interaction of colour fields.

 Continuous and observational drawing is a central part of David Thomas’s practice, his paintings are representational, underpinned with a subtle narrative, showing a passion for both of objects, and the process of painting itself.

Abstraction also plays a part in the impasto depiction of Sunflowers by Dominic Vince, and is an essential quality in the works by Helen Clarke. 

Malcolm Taylor works in mixed-media, sometimes switching between oils, acrylics and pastels and using brushes, sticks and fingers to scratch marks on the surface of his paintings. 

Working with assemblage, Ian Taylor’s work playfully questions the of the functions of objects and their status within historical artworks.  In one particular work - ‘Plath Lab’ artist Ebony Andrews takes issue with the very nature of still and living life.  Miniature in scale a series by Christine Clarke, delicate studies of lace and pearls.