Tony Bevan
dal 1/5/2003 al 22/6/2003
Segnalato da
1/5/2003
Tony Bevan
MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
The exhibition will focus on the very large-scale works which Bevan has made in the last 5-10 years of his career, some of which he has never been able to show before due to their size. The exhibition will include one new piece.
Tony Bevan is one of Britain's most distinguished contemporary painters. Born in Bradford in 1951, he trained at the Slade School of Art and has exhibited widely since his first solo show in 1976. This year Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal is celebrating his prolific career with a retrospective of paintings and drawings (14 April - 26 June). MK G's exhibition will focus on the very large-scale works which Bevan has made in the last 5-10 years of his career, some of which he has never been able to show before due to their size. The exhibition will include one new piece.
The human figure, particularly the head, has occupied Bevan for much of his career. Many of his paintings show heads, often with elongated necks, reaching upwards or outwards into the blank space of the rest of the canvas. They are powerfully suggestive of isolation and suffering, but also offer the hope of human resilience and the will to survive. In the last decade or so Bevan has also been concentrating on the interiors of buildings, producing mono-chromatic, stark canvases which focus on the structural elements of an interior and in which repeating patterns are emphasised. All the works due to be shown at MK G deal with these two subjects.
Bevan paints on a monumentally large scale, laying his canvases out on the ground as well as pinning them to the wall in a manner reminiscent of Jackson Pollock. Bevan's emphasis on materials has led him to make his own paint and to insist on the different quality of marks generated by charcoal made of different woods. He makes no attempt to conceal the fall-out of the painting process - his canvases are littered with small fragments of charcoal, studio dust and other debris which testify to the physicality of the process. The strong visual impact and large scale of Bevan's work will be complemented by the clean elegance of MK G's three gallery spaces.
Although inspired by a diverse range of art historical sources, including Mantegna, Holbein, Géricault, Manet and Bacon, Bevan is well known for his highly distinctive, wholly original style. He pushes the boundaries between drawing and painting and between representation and abstraction in ways which make his limited subject-matter seem full of meaning and possibility.
Tony Bevan will be discussing his work with Richard Cork, art critic, historian and broadcaster, on Tues 13 May at 19.30. Tickets are £5 (£3 concs) to include a glass of wine and must be booked in person or on 01908 676 900 during MK G opening hours. Doors open at 19.00 for pre-talk viewing.
Image: Tony Bevan, Blue Interior, 1999, copyright the artist, courtesy Michael Hue-Williams, London
Milton Keynes Gallery
- 900 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes
- tel +44 01908 676900
- fax +44 01908 558308