Splash: Summer Group Show

Plus One Gallery is pleased to present “Splash”, a summer group show of works by Toby Boothman, Matt Story, Paul Cadden, Gustavo Fernandes and Mike Francis.

Dive into the water, into the cool. For decades, “splash” has been depicted by artists, photographers, filmmakers, not as the subject per se, but as the backdrop of narratives or storytelling which is often associated with glamour, voyeurism, summertime happiness or sadness. From the conflicting tranquillity and exuberance presented in David Hockney’s painting of “splash”, to serving as the background of series of poolside glamour photography of Marilyn Monroe, and also the symbolic scene which suggests conspiracy in “la piscine” starred Alain Delon and Romy Schneider. The pool, water and “splash” have been represented in a wide range of pop culture.

In this group show, each artist at the Plus One Gallery group exhibition depicted the constant changing surface of the water with their own ways of expression.

UK-born, South France-based Toby Boothman continued his oeuvre of human figures, glowing translucency and intensity of the white and raw amber colour in “White Hot”. It showed the mastery of Boothman’s technique-a modern version of a Renaissance painting technique named “Technique Mixed”, heat penetrated through the paint and brush that the sense delivered through the intense sunlight, white balance exposure.

Each composition of Matt Story’s paintings uses gestures of figures to evoke platonic form and alludes something that lasts beyond the moment. The distilled essence presented in the depiction of motion through Story’s “Red Arch Bubble Up”. His paintings speak the innate self-reflection, water as a metaphor for self-birth, baptise and cleansing. Story’s method of hyperrealism oil painting on canvas closely resembles the classical method, used for centuries by Titan and Caravaggio. He believes painting presents more than what camera could do, and we human beings filter our memories which reside in us as invisible imprints.

Paul Cadden utilised additional, subtle pictorial element to create the illusion of a reality that does not exist in the human eye on his pencil drawing on recycled cartridge paper. In Cadden’s artistic practices, he intends to “intensify the normal”. His hyperrealism drawings incorporate the emotional, social and political thematic elements as an extension of the painted visual illusion. In contrast, Gustave Fernandes “splashed” the viewer with his bold colour, rigorous techniques and strong and steady traces. Mike Francis presented his visual storytelling through his works which often blur the boundaries between the real and the imagined. Francis usually place characters against urban and natural landscapes or backdrops to create a situational narrative, which tells a story. Francis has worked as a commercial illustrator from the 50s to 70s. We could still trace this influence in Story’s work, whereas his choice of colour, positioning of objects and choice of subject matter of everyday reality mirrored his American counterpart Edward Hopper.

The collection of hyperrealist works together as a whole depart the absolute reality, but evoke the power of the created illusion of the real, the contradiction of motion and stillness, the sense of frozen moment and the transcend of time. A vibrant show for the last of summer, “splash” into the summer time glories, perhaps even the sweet sense of sadness.