A Place Called Space: The Reason for Painting

Thursday, 15 June 2023

The Reason for Painting

The Reason for Painting

at the Mead Gallery, Warwick University.

An exhibition that has brought together some of the artists working with painting and abstraction today. These artists use colour, mark-making and form to elicit joy and celebrate the power of artistic expression.

Mary Ramsden, like the sound of the wind in a movie, 2023.

Mary Ramsden, the end came and went, 2023

Mary Ramsden, dry white rectangles of moonlight, 2023

Harminder Judge, Untitled (torso flattened and mud and stone), 2023

Judge's works simultaneously reference Indian neo-tantric painting, as well as the Abstract Expressionist and Colourfield movements of the 20th century. His process involves layering pigments into pools of wet plaster followed by prolonged periods of excavations, sanding, polishing and oiling.

Sam Windett, Triptych, (Star), 2023 (collage paper and canvas on linen)

Often working from sculptural assemblages he builds in his studio, Windett uses items such as plants, bits of wood, ribbon or gaffer tape as departure points for his painterly translation; reconstructing these as an essence of papable lines, fields and forms.

Sam Windett, M4 (Alps), 2023 (oil and collaged canvas and paper on linen)

Betsy Bradley, Through the Singing Trees, 2022 (acrylic on voile)

Works by Bradley use voile and dustsheets as painting supports. These fabrics dissolve the distinction between figure and ground and invite the play of light.

Pam Evelyn, Routine Escape, 2022 (oil on linen)

Rachel Jones, lick your teeth, they so clutch, 2021, (oil pastel, oil stick on canvas)

Rob Lyon, Tumuli, 2023, (oil on linen)

Rob Lyon, The Cnut's Rear, 2023, (oil on linen)

Rob Lyon, Dioecy has Costs, 2023, (oil on linen)

Rob Lyon, Tremulous in the Lord's Garden, 2023, (oil on linen)

Rob Lyon, Emergent, 2023, (oil on linen)

Francis Offman, Untitled, 2022-23, (acrylic, ink, paper, cotton, Bolognese plaster on linen)

Offman is from Rwanda and emigrated to Italy with his family following the civil war and genocide in 1994, and his dual upbringing in Africa and Europe has made him acutely aware of the geohistorical narratives of certain materials. The coffee which textures much of his work is a primary commodity in African countries including his native Rwanda, and while grown nowhere in Italy it is embraced there as a beloved national drink.

Melike Kara, surchi tribe, 2022

Oscar Murillo, (untitled) news, 2021-22

Murillo sews together fragments of earlier canvases, as well as other materials such as velvet and linen, and paints onto the amalgamated surface, creating a collage effect that highlights the contrasting energies of each plane.