If The Heart Had Eyes
An exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Bob Aldous,
at Gregg Baker Contemporary, Kensington, London, 23rd April - 19th May 2018
Wind Water Sky150 x 100cm
Mixed media on silk
In his latest exhibition, If the Heart had Eyes, Bob Aldous examines the relationship between Eastern brush paintings and Western abstraction.
These dynamic and subtle paintings on silk utilize the unique qualities of the surface and its ability to be receptive to fine mark making as well as broad spontaneous gesture. Bob uses a combination of watercolour, ink, graphite and acrylic; his use of media being particularly sensitive to the ground of the surface as the starting point to the painting process. Thick impasto paint lies on the painted surface whilst diffused glazes of watercolour and ink sink into the fine silk texture. This gives his work a spacial dynamic that suggest expansive landscape.
Although the paintings have a landscape quality they are essentially abstract. The images may allude to the natural world (cloud, mountains, water, sky, earth) but they do not relate to a particular place or time. In this way they evoke an atmosphere that relates as much to emotion than an external panorama. They are essentially internal landscapes and the space created within the composition evoke completive spaciousness.
The paintings use of the juxtaposition of opposites such as;
Movement and Stillness.
Distance and texture.
Transparency and opaqueness.
This juxtaposition holds the viewer’s attention and can be viewed as visual poems or Haiku’s.
Exhibition Details
Dates: 23rd April - 19th May 2018, 12am - 6pm
Address: Gregg Baker Contemporary, 99 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN
Private View: contact us to RSVP
View the Catalogue
The catalogue is now available here.
These dynamic and subtle paintings on silk utilize the unique qualities of the surface and its ability to be receptive to fine mark making as well as broad spontaneous gesture. Bob uses a combination of watercolour, ink, graphite and acrylic; his use of media being particularly sensitive to the ground of the surface as the starting point to the painting process. Thick impasto paint lies on the painted surface whilst diffused glazes of watercolour and ink sink into the fine silk texture. This gives his work a spacial dynamic that suggest expansive landscape.
Although the paintings have a landscape quality they are essentially abstract. The images may allude to the natural world (cloud, mountains, water, sky, earth) but they do not relate to a particular place or time. In this way they evoke an atmosphere that relates as much to emotion than an external panorama. They are essentially internal landscapes and the space created within the composition evoke completive spaciousness.
The paintings use of the juxtaposition of opposites such as;
Movement and Stillness.
Distance and texture.
Transparency and opaqueness.
This juxtaposition holds the viewer’s attention and can be viewed as visual poems or Haiku’s.
Exhibition Details
Dates: 23rd April - 19th May 2018, 12am - 6pm
Address: Gregg Baker Contemporary, 99 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN
Private View: contact us to RSVP
View the Catalogue
The catalogue is now available here.
The Black Wave
100 x 150cm
Mixed media on silk
100 x 150cm
Mixed media on silk
Flight
100 x 80cm Mixed media on silk |
If the Heart Had Eyes
100 x 80cm Mixed media on paper |
The Turquoise Lake
100 x 80cm Mixed media on silk |
Through Clouds
100 x 80cm Mixed media on silk |
|
"A mountain village under the pilled-up snow the sound of water." Masaoka Shiki |
Breath from the Silent Lake
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
"Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow --even today I am still arriving." Thich Nhat Hanh |
Arriving
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
The Imaginary Lake
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
"A summer river being crossed how pleasing with sandals in my hands!" Yosa Buson |
River Crossing
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
A Boat Made of Wind
100 x 150cm Mixed media on silk with silk collage |
Poseidon
100 x 150cm Mixed media on silk |
Distance Between Sky and Water
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
"Lily: out of the water out of itself" Nick Virgilio |
Reeds
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
Wind Water Sky
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
Autumn
100 x 60cm Mixed media on silk |
Azure
100 x 60cm Mixed media on silk |
|
"Rivers Parting. On a bench we sat, by streams banked with green. Jewellery made from water, where regrets dissipate, into light’s flickering promise. Silver polished. Emerald faceted. Embellishing memories silken robe, with a tapestry of small fish, that swim amongst reeds and sun’s reflection." Bob Aldous |
Air Water Light
150 x 100cm Mixed media on silk |
Reflections
100 x 80cm Mixed media on silk |
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Bob Aldous is an English Abstract artist, currently based in Richmond, London.
Aldous's work covers a wide range of artistic discilplines, painting, poetry, performance and installation projects.
He uses abstract imagery- usually relating to the movement and actions of water and have developed a unique technique of painting on silk which combines the use of acrylics, ink and watercolour. The delicacy of the silk providing the ideal canvas for his multi layered approach.
The theme of the artwork often uses the combination of opposites; such as light - dark, love - death, movement - stillness. This dynamic is a common thread that lies behind all his artwork. The artist has always been fascinated by the ability of painting to depict spacial depth. In more recent works this has led to broaden the spacial range from the depiction of immediate tactile sensation to the allusion of infinite space.
EDUCATION
BA in Fine Art, Ravensbourne College of Art and Design
MA in Creative Entrepreneurship, University of East Anglia
EXHIBITIONS
Mall Galleries, Sunday Times Watercolour, 2016
Gulidford House Gallery- Guildford, Sunday Times Watercolour, 2016
Leyden Gallery, Platform, 2015
Ashurst LLP, Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize, Shortlisted Artist 2015
The Invisible Line Gallery, A Remembered Dream- 2014
Embassy Tea Garden Gallery, Obsession, Love, ritual- 2014
Camden's People Theatre, Deer on the Inside, 2013
Shunt, It is said that Love lasts forever? 2013
Construction Gallery, Tooting, 2012
Merton Abbey Priory House, It is written in Water, 2011
Space C, “Memorial to the loss of innocence”, 2007
Column of light, St Pancras Church, 2013
Everlasting Hour, Reading Art Festival, 2011
ART FAIRS
London Art Fair, Islington, January 2016, 2017
Decorative Art Fair, Battersea, April 2016
LAPADA, Berkeley Square, September 2015
Affordable Art fair- Battersea, 2013, 2015, 2017
Artist fairs; Other Art fair, 2014, 2015, 2017
INSTALLATION WORKS
Silver Trail, St Botolphs Church 2011
Golden Moth that flies through the Flame, Shunt 2010
Commemoration of the London Bombings
Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Silver Petition 2007
St Pancras Church, Elevation from Terror, 2007
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
Emblems, Studio Weave Architects, 2013
Rain Spring river Sea, Tottenham Shutter project, 2013
Fallen Emperor, Electric Blue Gallery, 2012
COMMISSIONS
2015 Langham Hotel
1995 Royal Albert Hall
1988 Inn on the Park Hotel
1989 Saint Martins Theatre
1990 The Savoy Theatre
Aldous's work covers a wide range of artistic discilplines, painting, poetry, performance and installation projects.
He uses abstract imagery- usually relating to the movement and actions of water and have developed a unique technique of painting on silk which combines the use of acrylics, ink and watercolour. The delicacy of the silk providing the ideal canvas for his multi layered approach.
The theme of the artwork often uses the combination of opposites; such as light - dark, love - death, movement - stillness. This dynamic is a common thread that lies behind all his artwork. The artist has always been fascinated by the ability of painting to depict spacial depth. In more recent works this has led to broaden the spacial range from the depiction of immediate tactile sensation to the allusion of infinite space.
EDUCATION
BA in Fine Art, Ravensbourne College of Art and Design
MA in Creative Entrepreneurship, University of East Anglia
EXHIBITIONS
Mall Galleries, Sunday Times Watercolour, 2016
Gulidford House Gallery- Guildford, Sunday Times Watercolour, 2016
Leyden Gallery, Platform, 2015
Ashurst LLP, Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize, Shortlisted Artist 2015
The Invisible Line Gallery, A Remembered Dream- 2014
Embassy Tea Garden Gallery, Obsession, Love, ritual- 2014
Camden's People Theatre, Deer on the Inside, 2013
Shunt, It is said that Love lasts forever? 2013
Construction Gallery, Tooting, 2012
Merton Abbey Priory House, It is written in Water, 2011
Space C, “Memorial to the loss of innocence”, 2007
Column of light, St Pancras Church, 2013
Everlasting Hour, Reading Art Festival, 2011
ART FAIRS
London Art Fair, Islington, January 2016, 2017
Decorative Art Fair, Battersea, April 2016
LAPADA, Berkeley Square, September 2015
Affordable Art fair- Battersea, 2013, 2015, 2017
Artist fairs; Other Art fair, 2014, 2015, 2017
INSTALLATION WORKS
Silver Trail, St Botolphs Church 2011
Golden Moth that flies through the Flame, Shunt 2010
Commemoration of the London Bombings
Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Silver Petition 2007
St Pancras Church, Elevation from Terror, 2007
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
Emblems, Studio Weave Architects, 2013
Rain Spring river Sea, Tottenham Shutter project, 2013
Fallen Emperor, Electric Blue Gallery, 2012
COMMISSIONS
2015 Langham Hotel
1995 Royal Albert Hall
1988 Inn on the Park Hotel
1989 Saint Martins Theatre
1990 The Savoy Theatre
SEE MORE...
See the artist's website for details of the current exhibition on show now: http://bobaldous.com/