Preparing for the London Art Fair 2026
I’ve been painting for the last wee while in anticipation for the upcoming London Art Fair in January 2026. I’m almost there.
I was invited to submit work as part of a wider application for my friend’s gallery in Surrey. We’ve been mates for ages and shared a studio I ran in Reigate throughout the 2000s. We chanced our hand and, after a comprehensive selection process, we were good-to-go. Along with four other artists I’ll be exhibiting my work, incredibly, for the first time. Like a Womble, I exist though nobody’s ever seen me!
So the last few months have been focused on producing a coherent series based on my Carte Vista theme. Besides the actual painting, it’s given me a chance to formulate my ideas and construct a proper statement that not only clarifies my ideas and themes but prepares me for what comes next. A thoroughly useful process where everything from methods, colour and techniques are explored, solidified and acted upon. The future, in a painting sense, is bright (or violet and cobalt depending on my mood).
With recurring themes of impermanence, the mesmeric and the theatrical, I’m developing specific, distinct colour palettes and subject matter that I can move forward with in the next tranche of work this year. The more I do, the more things change, the greater the sense of urgency. I have big plans to move the work into larger scale canvases which are more mise-en-scene in nature.
Like a Womble, I exist though nobody’s
ever seen me…
I’ve also designed a small A5 brochure for the Fair. It will show all 5 artists and the gallery in the best possible light. London Art Fair has a pretty significant footfall so it’s wise to have something that visitors can peruse at their leisure, take away and, perhaps, contact the gallery in the future.
The Master’s Voice
The sublime paintings of Frans Hals.
Frans Hals / Until January 21st 2024
National Gallery, London
One of the finest artists of any generation, the exquisite brushwork, unique style of portraiture and sublime craft make this exhibition a must-see.
The first major retrospective of Hals in more than thirty years gives the opportunity to marvel at the quality of his techniques. The confidence is breathtaking, with precise strokes and masterful modelling coupled with almost carefree handling of the paint way ahead of its time.
Indeed, Hals’ deft brushwork was unparalleled, building his reputation on a new style of portraiture that amalgamated these techniques with an exceptional characterisation of the people he painted - smiling, laughing, having fun!
one of the greatest painters in Western art
I stood in the centre of one of the rooms in the National Gallery, paused and considered how incredible it all was. I shook my head in disbelief. In fact, I’d been muttering to myself, rolling my eyes, and shaking my head, in awe, throughout. How lucky I was to be standing in a room surrounded by Hals’ work - one of the greatest painters in Western art.
Lucky indeed. I travelled over to Amsterdam in June to see the once-in-a-lifetime Johannes Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum. To see two of my favourite painters, two of the greatest painters in two blockbuster exhibitions in the same year, I could die happy.
Sound and Vision
The immersive world of London-based UVA.
UVA - Synchronicity / Until December 17th 2023
180 Strand, London
United Visual Artists (UVA), a London-based collective formed in 2003, unveil their largest-ever exhibition, presented by 180 Studios.
Set within 180’s labyrinthine and industrial underground space in the Strand, the exhibition takes you on a journey through eight, primarily large-scale, immersive works, each challenging our perceptions of time through light, sound and movement.
The exhibition features a new audiovisual installation, Polyphony, exploring our relationship with the natural world. Evocative field recordings of the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve in the Central African Republic, created by influential sound artist Bernie Krause (The Great Animal Orchestra) and set to a hypnotic lightshow framed within a circular auditorium, serve as a memento mori to industrialisation and species loss.
challenging our perceptions of time through light, sound and movement
Musica Universalis
Musica Universalis, explores light, harmony and movement, reinterpreting the proportionality of heavenly bodies and the philosophical notion of ‘sound’ between them. Changes of light and colour and the interplay of shadow create an otherwordly atmosphere, UVA’s ‘kinetic instruments’ helping to envelop the viewer in a quasi-religious experience.
In Present Shock II, UVA teamed up once again with Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja. A vast wall of statistics displaying algorithmically-generated news headlines is fun and frightening, impressive and captivating.
UVA - Synchronicity, like Universal Everything’s highly impressive show, Lifeforms, last year, is ideal for 180’s dark, cavernous spaces, highlighting the richness of multiple sensory experiences and the profound nature of time and human existence.
Not to be missed.