Leaving the eccentric world of Roxana Halls upstairs and venturing down to the basement level, you’ll encounter even more talent represented by Hay Hill Gallery. The underlying theme for the show appears to be myth or fantasy- like wandering into a library the works are pages illustrating far-off lands or half-remembered dreams.
Jones Keyworth’s works are reminiscent of icons or illuminated manuscripts: small and heavy pieces, painted with luminous jewel like tones. From Albert is a new series of views sketched from the very top of the Albert Hall’s famous domed roof- the haze of heaped houses, glass office blocks, towers and cranes just about visible in the smoky ‘London particular’. With its Turner-esque twilight skies, this London appears both dark and bright; a living creature and a ghostly apparition.
Carlo Mirabasso’s Italian landscapes are typically filled with pointed roofs, bell towers and leaping arches, all in neat vertical rows that sweep the eye upwards. Mathematical building blocks are reminiscent of children’s toys- the pink, orange and blue shapes are faded like the plastic of buckets and spades left out in the sun. Lighthouses and beach balls give an air of nostalgia, but here the plasticine clouds and iron moons are too dense for the translucent skies; they drop down amongst the cypress trees leaving heavy shadows behind.
David Gould’s works are the result of a fantastic artistic process, accentuating depth and transparency with an experimental approach. Fusing together traditional methods with digital media, his swimmers are refracted and multiplied as though painted with mirrors and water. Fragments of changing time and human activity are linked together within these illusions, making the mundane magical.
Pancho Malezanov’s works are like remembering a flying dream or being sat on a roundabout; the colours whirl around forcing the viewer into the centre of each piece. Magnified fields, trees and ocean floors reveal camouflaged shoals of rainbow fish, birds of paradise and weird-eyed insects. Rolling hills like tidal waves curve around as though reflected by the side of a saucepan. Unbalanced by peculiar surroundings, the eye attempts to come to terms with these flickering neon zoetropes.
Sopho Chkhikvadze’s unique works have both beauty and naiveté; elements of comedy are heightened by distortion, the fuzzy-felt colours underpinned by nostalgia. The scenes often read like children’s book illustrations or dreamy caricatures, provoking a sense of emotional de-ja-vu.
Bruce Clark’s real and imagined locations often seem like lonely places. Inspired by literature, mythology, genealogy, architecture and simple geometry, the artist is drawn towards simplification and clarification. These landscapes create calm yet melancholic settings which provide an escape from the worries and complications of life in the twenty-first century.
David Bowers’ style is characterised by the depiction of oddly posed characters with his amazingly realist style. These images are often concerned with the masks we daily choose to wear, uncovering the dangerous true natures that bubble away beneath the surface. Mutual desires for money, sex and power cause his subjects to play roles in front of each other, skirting the real issues with elaborate relationship games.