Breese Little is delighted to present Promise of Palm Trees, a group exhibition of work by Charlie Billingham, Benjamin Brett, Jack Brindley, Benjamin Cohen, Clem Crosby, Fiona Curran, Damien Flood and Aimée Parrott. The eight emerging and mid‐career artists share an interest in the limits and opportunities of image making, with the works in this show interpreting painting as a medium from different perspectives.

The exhibition title is borrowed from discussions around Sigmar Polke’s current retrospective at Tate Modern, Alibis (October 2014 – February 2015). The twentieth century artist is well known for his experimental treatment of different media, among which his influential approaches to painting feature prominently. Benjamin Cohen, exhibition co‐curator and gallery artist, chose Promise of Palm Trees as this show’s title, suggesting an unreachable destination that may not be attained. The readable image, likewise, is frequently obscured or chased into abstraction.

The artworks in this exhibition are made in varying ways that obscure readings of their surface and history, whether intentionally or otherwise. Clem Crosby adds and erases form as his line traverses Formica surfaces, while Jack Brindley’s repetitive silk‐screening and re‐printing clogs the surface with blockages. Charlie Billingham’s ultra‐flat paintings and Aimée Parrott’s overlapping silkscreened works are condensed and compressed, to the effect of making them feel far removed from the viewer. The surfaces of Fiona Curran’s Persian rug and Benjamin Cohen’s pixelated yeti painting are shattered by individual marks, where Benjamin Brett and Damien Flood slip into abstracted painted surfaces, suppressing the emergence of line, form and colour.

The common components of these works can be considered under the umbrella of the ‘expanded field of painting’. Dialogue between the exhibited works and the artists’ approaches more broadly is established between process, surface, material, image, line and form.

Charlie Billingham (b.1984, lives and works in London), represented by OHWOW, Los Angeles, Post Graduate Diploma RA Schools (2013), MA Fine Art and History of Art, Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art (2008). Recent solo exhibitions (all 2014) include Jam Standard, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Free Time, Emalin, Zuoz and Tender 2, The Sunshine Room, OHWOW, LA. Recent group shows (all 2014) include Forever Now, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, The Word Today Serves No One Except To Say To The Grocer Give Me A Pound Of Lentils, Supportico Lopez, Berlin, Bloody English, OHWOW, LA include.

Benjamin Brett (b.1982, lives and works in London), Norwich University College of the Arts, BA (Hons) Fine Art (2003), MA Painting, Royal College of Art (2013). Recent group shows include The 8 Artistic Principles, ATTIC, Nottingham (2014) and Synesthesium, Ana Cristea Gallery, New York (2013). Brett was featured in 100 Painters of Tomorrow, Thames & Hudson (2014).

Jack Brindley (b. 1987, lives and works in London), University of Reading, BA (Hons) Fine Art (2009), MA Painting Royal College of Art (2013). Recent solo and joint exhibitions include Sweat, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery (2014), BC System, Spike Island, Bristol and Blueprint, CSA Space, Vancouver (2013).

Benjamin Cohen (b. 1986, lives and works in London) represented by BREESE LITTLE, Loughborough University, BA (Hons) Fine Art (2009), Central Saint Martins, MA Fine Art (2014). Recent solo exhibitions include Thoughts of Terminal Refreshment, BREESE LITTLE (2013).

Clem Crosby (Lives and works in London) is represented by George Lawson Gallery, San Francisco and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London. Crosby is a Senior MA Tutor at Central Saint Martins. Recent group exhibitions include Line Drift Loci, Campbell Works, Emergence, Hôtel de Sauroy, Paris, Are you Alright? New Art from Britain, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2013).

Fiona Curran (b. 1971, lives and works in London), Senior Tutor, Royal College of Art, Studying for a PhD at Slade, UCL (2010 – present), BA and MA Manchester School of Art (2001). Recent shows include Situation, RMIT, Melbourne, Detail, H Projects, Bangkok, Transition Gallery, London and Usher Gallery, Lincoln, Interchange Junctions, Howick Place (2014), Riff, Baltic39, Newcastle and Beach Fatigue, Carslaw St* Lukes (2013).

Damien Flood (b. 1979, lives and works in Dublin), represented by Green on Red Gallery, Dublin, MA Fine Art, National College of Art and Design, Dublin (2008). Recent shows include Interior Sun, Green on Red Gallery (2014), Theatre of the World, Ormston House, Limerick (2012) and Flood/NiBhriain/Vari, DOMOBAAL (2013). Recent awards include Elizabeth Fitzpatrick Travel Award and Arts Council Ireland Bursary Award (2014).

Aimée Parrott (b. 1987, lives and works in London), Post Graduate Diploma RA Schools (2014), University College Falmouth BA Fine Art (2009). Recent shows include Derive, The Place Downstairs, Curated by Stuart Evans, Painting about Painting, Curated by Andrew Hewish for Simmons and Simmons, Screaming Hornets, Tintype Gallery (2014).