An Exhibition of
Paintings
by Richard Smith and Christopher John
took place in the Lewis Gallery at Rugby School
from Monday 1 December to Saturday 13 December 2008
This eclectic show illustrates the different
directions Christopher John has
travelled
as an artist over the past 30 years, from early 20th century anarchic
nostalgia
reminiscent of the Vorticists (and Wyndham Lewis whose work he recently
curated for the Lewis Gallery) to the lurid psychedelia of the rave generation
suggesting the hypnotic states of mind induced under the distorting lights
of the nightclub dance floor.
Following portrait commissions of a former
Archbishop of Canterbury and President
of the European Parliament, Richard Smith
first attracted attention in 1993
on winning the Caroll Foundation Young Portrait Painters Award.
Since then he has diversified into landscape, still life, figures and interiors,
gradually moving away from illusionism into abstract and decorative forms,
‘constantly searching for and open to new ways of doing things’.
An Exhibition of
Paintings
by Lélia
Pissarro, Lynsey Storer and Christopher John
took place in the Lewis Gallery at Rugby School
from Monday 9 June to Saturday 14 June 2008
Lynsey Storer’s optical art is an attempt to
recreate light, using grey and white to produce
different optical responses. ‘I intend my work to be unforgettable even if the
experience
is not a pleasant sensation for the viewer,’ she says.
Christopher John’s influences range from the early
20th century Vorticists
(and Wyndham Lewis whose work he recently curated for the Lewis Gallery)
to the lurid psychedelia of the rave generation
Lélia Pissarro aims for a mood of intimacy,
‘bringing the viewer into the painting
as into an alcove, a boudoir, a secret room or studio where the painting is
being made,
born or destroyed’. She showed supporting photographs and video film
of a painting being created step-by-step
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