ALBEMARLE GALLERY EXHIBITIONS 2012

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CHINA: Memories & Imagination 6-28 Jan The group of artists selected for this show reflect the figurative tradition exemplified by the painters of the Sichuan School. Luo Fahui's (b.1961) soulful head studies and portraits look back to his youthful experiences of the Cultural Revolution. Chen Liangjie's (b.1971) plaintive depiction of six singing North Korean children refer obliquely to a China that once was and might have been but for its reforms. The white spaces that interrupt the dramas in Meng Houjun's (b.1979) canvases draw attention to his personal memories, while Jiang Huajun's (b.1978) fascination with giant mammals are the most introspective visions in the exhibition. Li Changlong, a social commentator, paints real and imagined dramas and the photographer, Shi Guowei (b.1977), fantastic re-interpretations of famous Western works of art. Li Wei (b.1979) creates hazy forms with stippled brush marks in a style she has termed, dot matrix. Hung Tunglu (b.1968) is represented by his Taichi Micky Mouse statuettes.

Adrian Wiszniewski 3-25 Feb Born Glasgow, Scotland, 1958 ADRIAN WISZNIEWSKI paints poetic yet idiosyncratic visions. Big pictures with big impact. Colourful fantasies of sunlit brilliance, overflowing patterns of people and panthers, mythic birds and beasts, the bright beauty of star flowers, trumpet lilies, chalice gold ranunculus, feathery green fronds, furled flags, midnight skinny dipping, and throngs of handsome, poised boys and girls, all, like Dorian Gray, eternally young.

Alexander Klingspor 2-24 Mar

Born Stockholm, Sweden, 1977 “My paintings reflect the world around me as I experience it. After all, that is what a painter does. He reflects what he sees. Hopefully my paintings will give the viewer an experience, a window into my world. I listen to the riddles of the night. From the nocturnal winter world of my hometown Stockholm comes my fascination for the night and it’s intriguing mood. I’ve always admired the old masters for their way to depict the relativity between light and dark. Without darkness no light can shine. And according to this universal rule I create my paintings.”

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Elena & Michel Gran 2-24 Mar Born St. Petersburg, Russia, 1942 & Born Moscow, Russia, 1941 Elena and Michel Gran present a unique feature in contemporary trompe-l'oeil painting - they work together on the same canvas. Symbiosis is so perfect that once a painting is completed, they cannot say for sure who painted what part. They have become recognised for their distinctive interpretation of trompe l’oeil, rich in metaphor, vision and imagination combined with a profound understanding of historical reference. Elena was born in St. Petersburg in 1942 into a family of painters and architects and trained at the Academy of Theatre, Music and Cinematography St Petersburg within the Faculty of Arts. Michel was born in Moscow 1941, the son of a theatrical artist, and trained at the same Academy as Elena where they met and in 1964 subsequently married. In 1981, they moved to Paris.

The Nude 30 Mar-28 Apr A Collective Exhibition of works by 17 artists represented by the Albemarle Gallery. The show will explore the subject of the Nude through each artist’s unique interpretation. Stuart Luke Gatherer, Christopher Thompson, Maxwell Doig, Antonio Cazorla, Alfredo Roldan, Jamil Naqsh, Harry Holland, Juan Bautista Nieto, Malcolm Liepke, David Begbie, Luciano Ventrone, Luigi Benedicenti, Ian Cumberland, Sukhi Barber, Ralf Arzt, Cesar Santos, Najmi Sura, Naomi Press

Tina Buchholtz 30 Mar-28 Apr Born Berlin, Germany 1963 “The end of the nineties marked a shift away from my erstwhile traditional portrayal of landscapes to usher in a phase of informal colour montages that provided medium to indulge my fascination with colour phenomena to the full. Paintings of merging patches of colour give rise to layers in a sea of colour with deep intensity of expression. This process of dispersal and reattachment came about by chance. As time progressed, canvasses used became steadily larger. This led to in-depth study of the life and works of Jackson Pollock, with whom I feel a close artistic affinity.

Malcolm Liepke 4-26 May Born Minneapolis, USA 1953 Malcolm Liepke as a student hungered for ‘classical’ training rather than the ‘conceptual’ ideas being taught. In a bold move, he left the Art Center College in Los Angeles and went to New York. That Malcolm Liepke’s paintings are arrestingly beautiful is evident, but they are much more. Through pattern, colour and bravura brushwork, Liepke delves deeply into profound areas of human nature. He has exhibited extensively internationally enjoying phenomenal success with a string of sell out exhibitions.

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American Figurative Exhibition 1-23 Jun A Collective Exhibition of works by 6 American figurative artists selected and invited to exhibit at the Albemarle Gallery. Paul Oxborough, Cesar Santos, Michael De Brito, Daniel Greene, Gabriella Gonzalez Dellosso, Zach Zdrale

Aqueous 1-23 Jun A Collective Exhibition of works by 15 artists represented by the Albemarle Gallery. This thematic exhibition explores the representation of all subjects relating in some way or other to water. Luciano Ventrone, Ron Bolt, Kim Yeon, Richard Harrison, Maxwell Doig, Christopher Thompson, David Atkins, Antonio Cazorla, Iain Faulkner, Harry Holland, Eric Zener, Elena & Michel Gran, Miranda Gibilisco, Cha Jongrye, Jaehyo Lee

Jamil Naqsh 29 Jun-21 Jul Born Kairana Uttar Paradesh, India 1939 In a still rapidly expanding art world, Jamil Naqsh holds a key position. He is the best known contemporary artist from Pakistan, long famous in his own country, and also well-established in international auctions. This is, however, only his second solo show in London, where he now lives as a recluse. It is an exhibition that takes up some of the major themes of his career. It also reflects, not just the culture of Pakistan, but also that of the whole of the Indian subcontinent, both Muslim and non-Muslim. In particular, there are many echoes of the imperial Mughal regime that once ruled the whole of India. At the same time, the exhibition demonstrates how an artist with major gifts, coming from this background, has been able to enter into a fruitful relationship with western Modernism, and thus link himself to what is now a worldwide community of visual artists.

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Pablo Atchugarry 27 Jul-1 Sep Born Montevideo, Uruguay 1954 Pablo Atchugarry has used Carrara marble as his principal medium since 1979. Atchugarry works on the material directly; he carves, engraves and files down the marble until the sculpture has reached a state of equilibrium and harmony - the final work is always architectural, organic and elegant. He is simultaneously very modern and a very traditional kind of sculptor. Born in Uruguay, from parents of French-Basque and Italian origin, he has travelled widely, particularly in Europe, but also in Latin America. In his youth he was in touch with some of the major traditions of 20th century Latin American art, in particular with the Constructivist tradition founded by Joaquín Torres García, the most eminent Uruguayan artist of the first half of the century. He was also aware of the work being produced by the Muralist school – Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco – in Mexico.!!

Maxwell Doig 7-29 Sep Born Huddersfield, England 1966 Maxwell Doig was born in Huddersfield. He graduated from Manchester School of Art in 1988 with a BA in Fine Art and went on to pursue his postgraduate studies in Fine Art at the Slade School of Art, London, between 1988 and 1990. Doig is preoccupied with the human figure and its spatial relationship combined with the interplay of light and shade. His use of unconventional viewpoints depicting static solitary figures along with the application of subtle pigments and textural complexity results in contemplative ephemeral imagery. In 1997 he was awarded the Villiers David Prize. He lives and works in Manchester.

Ian Cumberland 7-29 Sep Born Banbridge Co. Down, Ireland 1983 As a painter Cumberland’s main interest is with people and the (often absurd) things they do. Thus his pictures reflect situations in everyday life, attitudes and values expressed or implied and so on. In his own words, he is ‘always watching people’ and his observations shape his compositions. There is nothing judgmental in his work, but he indulges in what he calls ‘black comedy’ in terms of the general surrealism that is never far from his view. The mass media, too, increasingly influence his thinking.

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Lee Jaehyo 5-27 Oct Born South Korea 1965 Korean contemporary art has for some decades now revealed a very special sensibility – neither Chinese nor Japanese, but containing elements that are reminiscent of both. Lee Jaehyo’s work shows immense respect for natural materials, but also the will to dominate what nature has provided. One is immediately struck by the perfection of his craftsmanship, and led to reflect on the many long hours of hard physical labour that must have gone into the production of these immaculate, yet also intricate objects.

Stuart Luke Gatherer 2-24 Nov Born Scotland 1971 Stuart Luke Gatherer was brought up in the Eastern Highlands of Scotland, and graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1995 with an MA in Fine Art. His paintings entice the viewer to interact with contemporary scenes from the vantage point of an unseen onlooker. This creates a psychological ambiguity that is emphasised by strong forms and colours modelled in dramatic light and shade.

Luciano Ventrone 30 Nov-22 Dec Born Rome, Italy 1942 Luciano Ventrone is regarded by the Italian art establishment, museums, curators and critics as one of the leading exponents of his genre. He is loved, admired and respected by the Italian people, collected by the Italian Government, Corporate Institutions and avid collectors to such extent that his one-man shows are complete sell-outs. Described as ‘hyper-realist’ the Art Historian and Critic, Edward Lucie-Smith states, “Ventrone is often categorized as a ‘hyper-realist’. This implies that his work is somehow related to photography. As anyone who has looked at his paintings carefully will know, this is not the case. Far from offering us the somewhat flattened version of physical forms typical of the monocular vision of the camera, his paintings have an almost overwhelming solidity and physical presence, to the point where the nearest shapes seem ready to break through the front plane of the canvas. Despite any comparisons that can be made to the art of the past, whether to Caravaggio or to any other artist, this is painting that is intransigently modern, completely of our own day.”

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