S T E W A R T G E D D E S

Transcription

1 STEWART GEDDES

2 First published in 2014 by Campden Gallery Ltd High Street, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire GL55 6AG All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electrical, mechanical or otherwise, without first seeking the permission of the copyright owners and the publishers. All images in this catalogue are protected by copyright and should not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Details of the copyright holder to be obtained from Campden Gallery. STEWART GEDDES Zed Alley Copyright 2014 Campden Gallery Ltd. ISBN: March 2014 High Street, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire GL55 6AG Tel: info@campdengallery.co.uk Open Tuesday to Saturday am 5.30 pm Sunday am 4.00 pm

3 Several years ago I started thinking about cubism again; the way it proposes the apprehension of the world via multi-viewpoints, both spatially and temporally. At the time I was living in London and discovering my attraction to the Modern Ruin ruins that were only recently the last word in newness. I was attracted to how such buildings, having been relieved of their daily function, were liberated to hold new meanings. They became prompts for work, and accordingly I began to tear and scrape at the painted surface. I began thinking about scraping and tearing when looking at Matisse. In certain paintings, particularly during the 1910s (incidentally his most Cubist phase), he uses the tip of a palette knife to scrape away areas of the most recently painted layer, in order to partially erase a form. However, this process of subtraction is not a precursor to further additions of paint, instead, the excavation is allowed to remain, sparkling and animating the painted surface. And so we oscillate between a ghostly form and startling under-surfaces This most recent suite of paintings are embedded in a language that seeks to combine the kinetic characteristics of Cubism and the notion of the Modern Ruin. Each painting has gone through several permutations before resolution is attained. I find resolution through a process of negotiation: between the proposition for each painting, and the materials and processes by which they are constructed. Stewart Geddes February 2014 Ellerhoop 90 x 120 cm oil paint and mixed media on wood panel 2 3

4 Relebbus 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Hendra 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 4 5

5 Stewart Geddes has always impressed me as a deeply thinking and feeling artist, able to combine great creative intelligence with a sensuality that unashamedly expresses the beauty of the world, as revealed by his own unique vision. We are immediately intrigued by the classical disposition of the paintings and their sumptuous surfaces which invite us through levels of visual experience into the beguiling heart of the painting. Shapes and colours move towards and away from each other, touch and cross in flirtatious movement, penetrating and traversing the radiant space. These are subtle profound paintings of consummate quality. Albert Irvin OBE, RA Ren Cancan 90 x 120 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 6 7

6 Finchcocks 30 x 23 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Polyphant 30 x 23 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Keskeys 30 x 39 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 8 9

7 Poppinghole 90 x 120 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 10 11

8 Shippen 30 x 23 cm oil and mixed media on wood panel Zed Alley 34 x 45 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 12 13

9 Bollowal 46 x 60 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Flimwell 46 x 60 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 14 15

10 Greeb 30 x 39 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Evan Evans 46 x 60 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 16 17

11 Treen 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Barnswell 30 x 39 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 18 19

12 Rosewall 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Praa 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 20 21

13 Wicca 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Vellanoweth 23 x 30 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 22 23

14 STEWART GEDDES Sparnon 19 x 22 cm acrylic and mixed media on wood panel Stewart Geddes is a visiting lecturer in Fine Art at Plymouth University and Arts University Bournemouth. Since 1996 he has been an Academician of the Royal West of England Academy, and between 2007 and 2010 was Head of Painting at Cardiff School of Art and Design. Selected exhibitions 2013 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London Wells Art Contemporary, Wells City Museum Royal West of England Academy Autumn Exhibition, Bristol 2012 Ha Ha What Does This Represent? Standpoint Gallery, London The Discerning Eye, Prize Winner and selected artist, The Mall Galleries, London 2011 Near and Far, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol 2010 Super8Station3, Arnolfini, Bristol Scratching the Surface 2, BayArt, Cardiff MGM, Howard Gardens Gallery, Cardiff (solo) 2009 Summer of Dissent, Plan 9, Bristol Wood, Canvas, Steel, TactileBOSCH, Cardiff 2007 The Unstable Sign, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, London (solo) 'Hoofd, Food, Been' ('Head, Feet, Hands'), RC de Ruimte, JP Coenstraat 51-55, IJmuiden, Netherlands. Scratching the Surface, Eton College, London The Great Exhibition 2007, Royal College of Art, London Paolozzi Gallery, Brompton Oratory School, London 2006 Triptych, Irish Museum of Modern Art Circus, The Empire, Bethnal Green, London 2005 Here Comes Everything, Chipping Norton Arts Centre, Oxfordshire (solo) Short-listed for John Moore s Exhibition, Liverpool Les Shops A Let Dans L Air We Breathe, Gallery 16 New Quebec Street, London RCA Fine Art Research Group, Southwark Park Gallery, London Art London, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art Interim, Gulbenkian Gallery, RCA, London 2005 Open Painting, RWA, Bristol 2004 Beattie, Geddes, Hopkins, Jones, Advanced Graphics, London 2003 SE1 Gallery, Royal Mint Building, London 2003, 2002, 2001, 1997, 1993, 1989, 1988 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2002 Land, ArtSway, Southampton, Hampshire Public collections House of Commons; Royal Collection; Landmark Plc; Royal College of Art; Royal West of England Academy of Art; Cardiff Metropolitan University Private collections France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Spain, UK, USA Education 2007 Royal College of Art MPhil 1997 City University, London MA 1983 Bristol Polytechnic BA (Hons) 24

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