Thursday 24 January 2013

ALLEN FISHER PAINTINGS ON SHOW

Allen Fisher, Frontal Lobe, oil on canvas, on show at the Hereford Museum and Gallery.
Copyright 2013 by Allen Fisher, shown here by permission of the artist.

On Tuesday I travelled to Hereford to see new paintings by Allen Fisher exhibited at three venues in the town. Three oil paintings are on show at the Hereford Museum and Gallery, two oil paintings are in a mixed show at the Apple Store Gallery and two large watercolours can be seen at the Castle House Hotel. These richly coloured paintings are developed from still-life studies of traps and carpenters' tools and they are the first showing of Allen Fisher's project Engaged Embrace.

"Familiar objects are transformed through vibrant colour and the incorporation of studies of moving figures and urban landscapes. The paintings celebrate patterns of connectedness between the figurative and conceptual in art."

I wanted to actually see these paintings by my old friend Allen Fisher, rather than rely on reproductions, and it was a good decision. I think that the photo above, which is no more than my reference shot with a tiny camera, does at least give some indication of the importance of colour in these heavily worked and sumptuous paintings. They really glow. The train journey north out of Exmouth and into the snowy landscape beyond the flooded lower Exe was a pleasure. The little Penzance to Cardiff train seemed to stop everywhere possible between Exeter and Bristol and then went under the Severn tunnel to Newport. I stayed with Allen Fisher and Paige Mitchell in their house near the train station in Hereford.  It was possible therefore to spend some time with the paintings, including going back again to the Museum Gallery to take some photos on Wednesday morning before I got my train back to Exmouth.


Allen Fisher, Hindbrain, oil and goldleaf on canvas, on show at the Hereford Museum and Gallery.
Copyright 2013 by Allen Fisher, shown here by permission of the artist.


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