Julia Farrer, Sharon Hall, Francesca Simon
6 April – 6 May 2023
Bending Space II features recent work by three artists whose paintings whilst entirely abstract explore form, light, phenomena and space, illustrating how the language of abstraction is often misunderstood as being entirely disconnected from the real world.
Julia Farrer’s images investigate geometry and illusions of architectonic form. The paintings suggest a sense of movement or transformation by folding, twisting and rotating their original geometric starting points. Worked in subtle colours informed by a fascination with Indian miniature painting, apertures cut into shaped wooden supports hint at three dimensions by incorporating shadows cast on the wall.
Sharon Hall’s paintings carry an emotional resonance that refers back to traditions of the quattrocento, revealing how light affects the nuances and poetic qualities of colour. Recent images have moved from more rigid structures of grids and geometric armatures to explore an extended range of spatial dynamics where different treatments of paint occur within the same picture plane. Areas of translucency and texture disrupt the framing architectonics, to suggest light, heat and the specificity of place.
Francesca Simon composes images harmonically in a process of repetition, inversion and rotation within a framework of horizontal and diagonal grids. The paintings have moved from supports of aluminium to the rougher textures of linen onto which she has introduced a burst of coloured energy. Walks in the countryside of Glaisdale, North Yorkshire where she lives are reflected in a palette of greens, blues, clays and yellows which suggest the phenomena of the natural world.
Natalie Dower’s work is on show in the Eagle Gallery Cabinet Room.
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