Brian Sinfield Art Gallery
Exhibition 'Under the Skylight'
Felice Hodges 16 September 2023 - 11 October 2023
'Under the Skylight'
Felice is an abstract artist, whose primary interest is the use of colour in painting. Having spent much of my early life and university years in New York, my background familiarised me with the ‘colour field’ paintings of Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Clyfford Still, Ellsworth Kelly and others.
The artist explains: "My fascination with how colour can make the viewer feel, combines with my interest in drawing and collage in which pieces of paper are placed above, or secreted below,multi-layers of paint, so that only their outlines are revealed. Some of the textures also incorporate hessian and sand, whilst the mark-making consists largely of charcoal, Indian inks, chalky pigments and oil pastels. These gestural notations are often nonfigurative, although there are also references to everyday, domestic objects such as chairs, tabletops and vases..
My drawings are intentionally ambiguous, and I aim to encourage interpretation and engagement with the work in a very personal way. Indeed, there is deliberately little in the way of narrative, so that the viewer can engage with a painting with a fresh and open mind. This creative interaction between the artist and an observer is something I always strive for ... to be able to stimulate what, I hope, leads to a fruitful ‘conversation’.
This body of recent work encompasses themes which I have explored for many years. Recurrent motifs of interior objects, such as vessels, appear to float on ‘fields’ of modulated colours, often appearing in rhythmic sways which recall my deep interest in music.
In other paintings, as their titles suggest, the colours alone encapsulate the mood of a place or the memory of a moment of time. ‘Congo Pink and Magenta’, for example, refers purely through colour to the heat and exoticism of Africa … a reminiscence pared down to narrow bands in a combination of ‘hot’ tones.
In ‘Mexico I’ and ‘Divide by Rust’, the earthy shades of yellow ochre, sienna and reddish brown recall the heat and baked dust of the region, though the former painting highlights vessel shapes too, showcasing the artefacts of this ancient civilisation. I love the challenges of invention, of experimentation with novel colour combinations and notations." Felice Hodges
Painting illustrated: Ritual | mixed media on canvas | 100 x 100 cm
To view the full exhibition click here
To view the digital catalogue please click here
Featured Artist
Endre Röder
Endre Röder was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1933 and much of his childhood was spent in Malta. He moved to the UK in 1949. Endre began painting in 1988 and throughout those 35 years has continued to paint with the same prolific energy and vibrancy.
So much has been written over the years about this amazing artist and so we feel it should be left to Endre to talk about his work. “My work, always figurative, starts off as a vague arrangement of shapes, colour and textures held together by subject matter. Most frequently of a female figure in an interior or landscape, compositionally unified by objects of beauty such as flowers, fruit, trees, birds, attractive headwear and clothing, and anything I feel is life enhancing.”
What we feel cannot go unsaid is the continual striking visual element of Endre’s work and the underlying theme which has been his inspiration throughout, namely the female form. Paintings such as ‘Music and the Moon’ and ‘Goldfishes’ capture exotic women, with his bold and colourful palette reminiscent of Gauguin and Modigliani, both of whom have had a great influence on him, as well as all the elements that his imagination brings to create these almost mystical landscape and interior settings.
However, this is not Endre’s only vision of the female figure. The quiet gentle pose of contemplation found in ‘Girl on the Floor’ shows a very sensitive quality with such depth of observation and study, reflected in the more muted and tonal colours and subtle decoration, echoing her most wistful look.
In the paintings of ‘Lizy and Lucy’ the soft delicate colour palette which bind these two girls together enhance our view of Endre’s interpretation of their warm bond and friendship.
In this series of contemplative poses the faces of the women and girls have a faraway look as if they themselves are imagining a mystical world.
Image shown here: Kate | oil on canvas | 73 x 43 cm
To view all available work please click here
Exhibition 'Unfound' opens Saturday 14th October
'Unfound' by Lee Madgwick
Announcement on the exhibition 'Unfound' by Lee Madgwick
You are invited to join us in celebrating this long awaited exhibition by Lee Madgwick. 'Unfound' is Lee's second solo exhibition with the gallery.
We announced on our homepage that images of new exhibition paintings would be available to view online from the 27th September. Lee's work is in such demand that his paintings were being purchased as the images were being uploaded, and therefore the exhibition has already nearly sold out.
We apologise if you have missed out on this occasion, but rest assured we will be holding a further exhibition of paintings by Lee in 2025.
Join us for a glass of champagne and meet Lee Madgwick who will be present from 11am - 3pm on Saturday, 14th October 2023
"Lee Madgwick’s paintings have the unearthly power of a disturbing dream in which familiar places are cut adrift from everything reassuring and become outposts in a desolate spinal landscape. But a dream is indistinct, and fades; here they with the unfading, scrupulous, fascinating detail of a Dutch Master. Silence hangs over every canvas and poetry is found in meticulous renderings of every form of decay. Not death, though – his scenes are alive. The natural world thrives and reclaims, people have been here recently (thought they might not have meant well), and the weather is about to change." Will Wiles
The artist explains: “I hope to achieve a sense of drama in my work. Presenting a familiar image yet placing it in an intimate and moody setting. A narrative is very important – but intentionally never fully explained. I like to leave it for the viewer to come up with their own interpretation.”
A catalogue is available on request.
To view available work please click here
Image above: ECLIPSE | ACRYLIC ON CANVAS | 100 X 150 CM