Martin La Rosa’s paintings act like an oasis of calm. Exquisitely painted landscapes and still lifes, they are the visual equivalent of stepping into a hot bath, and then drifting off into a state of blissful relaxation. Instead of rushing around, his paintings at his first solo show at Plus One Gallery require us to pause and reflect, qualities that are often rare in today’s world.

One of his most recent paintings where this can be seen most effectively is “The Spread of Silence”. When standing in front of the majestic sweeps of powdery snow on mountainous crags, and when faced with the breath-taking simplicity of a mountain landscape all of those niggling worries that so often fill our mind seem to melt away into insignificance.

La Rosa’s technical skill is such that the painted mountains even seem to take on a profound presence of their own: the more we look at them, the more we are aware of an overwhelming and deep peace. Time seems to slow down, and we find that we suddenly feel more refreshed and rejuvenated than we were before.

A very different kind of silence- but no less poignant- is seen in "Marta's Road". Depicting a rolling English road in spring (hemmed in with lush green hedges and leafy trees) we are presented with the quiet joys of the countryside, so brilliantly rendered by La Rosa's brushwork.

The extraordinary level of detail (whether it is the effect of light and dark on the snow or a leaf on a tree) enables the paintings to truly come alive: it is like looking through a window into another world, they seem so lifelike. This is what contemporary hyperrealism is about: combining incredible painted detail to give us another perspective on life. Yet this convincing semblance of reality is not stilted or coldly scientific; to the contrary, La Rosa's paintings have a highly poetic quality.

As an internationally renowned artist who is at the forefront of contemporary Hyperrealist art, Martin La Rosa’s work thus has the power to astonish, evoke and energise. And ultimately, what La Rosa has achieved is the ability to convey the intangible, from beauty to poetry- a considerable feat indeed.

The Show will run from 26th May until 16th June at Plus One Gallery.