Aug 7 - Sept 1, 2018
Prospecting - what an apt title for a Leigh Martin exhibition of new work! As in Mass Raster, 2016 , Martin has taken the squeegee repeatedly to sheets of paper, pulling paint up, down and from side to side in a relentless controlled process - searching, searching for idiosyncrasy within the colour field and for the right moment to stop.
Sometimes layers of just one colour are manipulated into the paper, as in the large exquisitely bruised-looking green Field Recording #31. At other times, two or more colours are layered on top of one another, left bled, pressed and striated by chance in the vigorous pursuit of pleasure.
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Field Recording #28 is almost 1200mm high, a glorious rusty orange atop a deep grapey red. The edges have a rich dark presence. Some of their decals have gotten caught in the squeegee and been pulled through the lighter russet, leaving vertical lines of the dark ground to show through. The feeling is of a rich opulence, rather than surface film scratched. There is a timeless and time-consuming play of edge, surface area and tensile fluidity in motion. There are teals, lilacs and pinks too. But Martin's control of tone is very considered and always richly rewarding.
JS
Please hover over image to see title...
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List of works
Field Recording #10 acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 530 x 470mm
Field Recording #19 acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 530 x 470mm
Field Recording #30a acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 530 x 470mm
Field Recording #32 acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 530 x 470mm
Field Recording #26 acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 735 x 585mm
Field Recording #28 acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 1185 x 910mm
Field Recording #30 acrylic on 640gsm cotton rag watercolour paper 1185 x 910mm
Field Recording #31 acrylic on 640gsm Lana Aquarelle watercolour paper 1740 x 1260mm
Field Recording #33 acrylic on 640gsm Lana Aquarelle watercolour paper 1740 x 1260mm
All works are framed and from 2018