Kite Circus is a survey show of one of art’s most discussed constituencies: abstraction. One of the show’s strengths is that it makes us realise the breadth of possibilities within what we might call, for the sake of argument and brevity, non-representational art.
Thirteen artists are on show, each with a unique approach to the task at hand. They make work bearing little deliberate resemblance to anything else, that relies on an arrangement of colour and form, and intelligent use of materials and substrates, to conjure hitherto unacknowledged emotions and resonances. There is something intangible in this work, and that might well be part of why it has come to exist – artists seeking to communicate ideas for which words are inadequate.
Curator Nick Grindrod selected the artists for their points of difference. Grindrod’s own paintings combine freehand paint application with distressed, geometry-driven pattern and forms, with stripes of high colour made more striking by judicious use of bare canvas. Genevieve Leavold also makes use of controlled gesture, a smooth sweep of a large, fully loaded brush depositing its colourful cargo on a relaxed journey across the canvas. It sits comfortably alongside Mark Jessett’s exquisite pieces made by the application of thin acrylic over coloured papers, the effect like glimpsing a special moment. Karen Foss’s small, softly-spoken paintings are equally seductive, and act as counterpoints to Christine Stark’s freer, dynamic series of small paintings on wood. These works speak eloquently of the abstract artist’s decision-making process – taking risks, embracing happy accidents, working over, until reaching their desired effect, all the while creating a subconscious palimpsest revealing some of the object’s history.
JFK Turner’s Untitled straddles a line between found object and painting. It is an amalgamation of reclaimed detritus – urban driftwood – and his intervention creates an object, a painting, of undoubted beauty. This collaging of materials informs Fabio Almeida’s immaculately compiled work – shapes echoing modernist buildings, the muted palette reminiscent of the post-war era. In marked contrast, but no less evocative, is Jeffrey Cortland-Jones’ pale and delicate Persist (Girl Band), whose minimalist elegance only appears after extended engagement. Hannah Delahay’s beguiling work has a real sense of the creative journey – with close inspection revealing the process of careful building of the surface, and the equally painstaking erasure of areas to uncover colourful strata beneath.
Bob Partridge’s paintings are the most gestural and visually complex on show, glimpses of underpainting revealing considerable reworking, as an array of painterly marks combine, to intriguing effect. The special properties of oil paint, colour and substance, are also manifest in Tom Wilmott’s rich, deep blue Days I Lived a World of Nights; here Wilmott imposes strict parameters, limiting himself to a single colour and the simple compositional device of the diagonal. The paint is sumptuously thick, like fondant icing, forming parallel ridges which create shadows and catch the light.
While paint has paste-like density it can be used a stain too. Sara Dare makes a feature of the canvas texture with her subtle layering of thin, translucent paint. The resulting forms are blurred and ambiguous yet glisten as under-layers come through. It's remarkably beautiful work, as well as simultaneously joyful and tense.
Two sculptures by Richard Perry crystallise the thrust of the exhibition. One, in marble, could initially be assumed to have been moulded by the elements. Its companion, of limestone, has the look of Synthetic Cubism – a natural, free spontaneity alongside cooler, thoughtful manufacture and all stops in between.
Kite Circus is a show where viewers will find themselves picking a favourite, then continually changing their mind. It is exciting to have an exhibition of such high calibre in an independent gallery in Sheffield.
Open on Friday–Sunday 11am–5pm, and by appointment.
- Words by
- Sean Williams