ENGLISH MAGIC
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PRESS RELEASE: ENGLISH MAGIC
Fred Mann is delighted to announce the first exhibitions at his new gallery, New Art Projects.
ENGLISH MAGIC will be made up of four solo shows by painters James E Crowther, Fergus Hare, Sarah Sparkes and Geraldine Swayne.
The 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.
James E Crowther
“Gabba Gabba Hey... We accept you, we accept you. One of us, one of us, welcome to the Circus!”
Tod Browning’s, 1932, pre-censure Hollywood, movie Freaks
James 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.
He 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.
Fergus Hare
Fergus 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 “valley of vision” 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.
Sarah Sparkes
'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 her childhood locations. The title “Never Afraid” 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.
The '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 “NEVER 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.”
Each of the ten works are painted with acrylic and mixed media on wall paper from one of her childhood family homes.
Geraldine Swayne
Geraldine 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.
Her 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.
Fred Mann is delighted to announce the first exhibitions at his new gallery, New Art Projects.
ENGLISH MAGIC will be made up of four solo shows by painters James E Crowther, Fergus Hare, Sarah Sparkes and Geraldine Swayne.
The 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.
James E Crowther
“Gabba Gabba Hey... We accept you, we accept you. One of us, one of us, welcome to the Circus!”
Tod Browning’s, 1932, pre-censure Hollywood, movie Freaks
James 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.
He 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.
Fergus Hare
Fergus 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 “valley of vision” 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.
Sarah Sparkes
'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 her childhood locations. The title “Never Afraid” 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.
The '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 “NEVER 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.”
Each of the ten works are painted with acrylic and mixed media on wall paper from one of her childhood family homes.
Geraldine Swayne
Geraldine 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.
Her 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.
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