IN MOTION – Exhibition exploring the sensation of movement
The Place is delighted to present IN MOTION, an exhibition offering the opportunity to consider and reflect upon movement through the medium of paint. Sharon completed two residencies at Trinity Buoy Wharf London Docklands in 2016 and 2017. These contemporary abstract paintings are a response to that location and an exploration of the sensation of movement.
“I love the restless energy of the Thames, the pace and force of the rising and receding tides, the twisting, turbulent currents and astonishingly high and low water levels. This majestic river is continuously in motion.” Sharon Drew. August 2018
In Motion
Sharon Drew’s working process begins with a response to the landscape, in this case the inspiring Thames-side location of Trinity Buoy Wharf, with its industrial edges, big skies and tidal rhythms. The studio space in which she made this work is large and light-filled, promoting an expansive and free approach. Sharon’s paintings are essentially abstract but she looks for ways to evoke the energy and quality of landscape. The works belong to a tradition of painting influenced by calligraphy and the idea that the mark is a trace of the body’s movement – a record of the energy, poise and confidence of the artist. The movement and physicality of the brushstroke is clearly evident as the paint twists and turns, creating a sense of motion and form. Light and colour are also key, creating energy and space within the composition and adding to the sense of a fleeting moment in time.
Using the process of painting Sharon attempts to fix colour and gesture into a composition while retaining a quality of elusiveness and dynamism. The pictorial space she creates resists easy interpretation. The viewer’s perception of the painting is not fixed, colour and gesture seem to cohere into a fleeting reading of space, light and form before collapsing back into paint. References to the river become distilled and subsumed into an abstract image and it is for the viewer to decide if the link to the real experience is still apparent or the painting defines itself.
IN MOTION Introduction by Mark Sowden, Artist. August 2018
FREE EVENT: Meet the Artist – Sat 6 Oct, 4 – 6pm
Meet Sharon Drew, view the exhibition and discuss the works. Also see sketchbook studies – watercolours and drawings of the River Thames and coast. Additional small paintings and monoprints will also be available to view and purchase during this event.
Author: Sharon Drew
Sharon Drew lives and works in London and recently completed two residencies at Trinity Buoy Wharf Docklands. Her work has been selected for solo shows and exhibitions such as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions and Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5. Her work has also been shown in Singapore and Paris. Sharon completed her Fine Art MA at Central Saint Martins in 2003 where she is now a mentor to Fine Art BA students. Her work is in private collections in Germany and throughout the UK.
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The Place
17 Duke's Road
London
WC1H 9PY - Mon-Fri 2-5pm until 31 October
- Free
- info@sharondrew.co.uk
- https://www.theplace.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition-sharon-drew-motion
