English Magic at New Art Projects
\n6D Sheep Lane, London, E8 4QS<\/p>\n
I’m showing my new NEVER AFRAID paintings, along with some from the original series, at Fred Mann’s stunning new gallery.\u00a0 English Magic will present four solo shows by four artists.<\/p>\n
Exhibition opening times: July 18 – August 23
\nWed – Fri 11-6 Sat 12-5, or by appointment
\nContact: info@newartprojects.com tel: 0207 2493032<\/p>\n
Fred Mann is delighted to announce the first exhibitions at his new gallery, New Art Projects. \u2028\u2028ENGLISH MAGIC will be made up of four solo shows by painters James E Crowther, Fergus Hare, Sarah Sparkes and Geraldine Swayne.
\nThe exhibitions will explore the fine line between the real and the sublime in contemporary British Painting, looking in particular at what happens when the English landscape is distilled through the eyes of artists. A magical realm is created.<\/p>\n
James E Crowther\u2028\u2028\u201cGabba Gabba Hey… We accept you, we accept you. One of us, one of us, welcome to the Circus!\u201d\u2028Tod Browning\u2019s, 1932, pre-censure Hollywood, movie Freaks\u2028\u2028James E Crowther has carved an extraordinary series of figures from MDF, the choice of material for the coffin the maker. These are then meticulously hand painted and each are unique, having their own individual story. These figures are his Pinocchios, life is breathed into them and as they multiplied in his studio they began to create a visual noise.\u2028\u2028He has created a modern day freak-show, a sideshow that grew into a celebration. It is a celebration not just of our shabby imperfection, our humanity but also of our shadow-side and weaknesses. Through out the narrative his characters create a burlesque undercurrent detailing the lives of the sideshow performers.<\/p>\n
Fergus Hare\u2028\u2028Fergus Hare makes oil paintings of the Sussex landscape; however a visual transformation is underway. Rather than paint from the landscape on his doorstep, these works stem from the imagination. With a firm nod to the fantastical \u201cvalley of vision\u201d of Samuel Palmer and the mysticism of William Blake, Hare re-imagines the landscape as a dream-scape, on the edge of twilight. Alongside his paintings we will also exhibit an extraordinary series of charcoal drawings of the moon and planets. A solar system of the imagination.<\/p>\n
Sarah Sparkes\u2028\u2028’NEVER AFRAID’ is a body of work that artist Sarah Sparkes has been creating over the past decade and is an attempt to both invoke and exorcise the memories embedded within old haunts. The title \u201cNever Afraid\u201d refers to the small village of Aldworth in the Berkshire Downs and a legend passed down to her by her mother’s family about the four magical Aldworth Giants: John Long, John Strong, John Never Afraid and John Ever Afraid.\u2028\u2028The ‘NEVER AFRAID’ works are an investigation of these stories, symbols and fragmentary facts that she has used to try to communicate with an idea of the past. She observes \u201cNEVER AFRAID is a challenge made on a threshold before crossing into a symbolic, supernormal space; ‘NEVER AFRAID’ is a magical incantation to both summon and defend against forces outside of our understanding.\u201d\u2028\u2028Each of the ten works are painted with acrylic and mixed media on wall paper from one of her childhood family homes.<\/p>\n
Geraldine Swayne\u2028\u2028Geraldine Swayne takes her subjects from a wide rage of sources; from pornography, landscapes and portraits of friends and musical collaborators. She describes a creative and complex world that bridges artistic and musical creativity. As a member of the celebrated band ‘FAUST’, Swayne incorporates painting into her on-stage performances and often documents her experimental performances in her paintings. Her small enamel paintings have all of the fascination of historical cabinet miniatures; small, intimate, often sexual imagery is rendered in jewel-like colours on tiny metal panels.\u2028\u2028Her fascination with life and the personal landscapes she encounters comes from the margins of society, her works describes the edge of or a bridge between obsessive worlds and the day to day.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.newartprojects.com\/index.php?mode=exhibitions&id=8<\/a><\/p>\n