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.