Geoff Powell (art preview)
May 10th, 2008
- Eye of the Beholder, is at the Exeter Phoenix from May 15 to June 11
posted by Cptn
Geoff Powell is reluctant to give his paintings names and he didn’t want to come up with a title to his next show, which is on at the Phoenix from May 15 to June 11. He settled on the title The Eye of the Beholder.
‘It’s up to people to make their mind up about the pictures,’ he says, claiming, the eye of the title to be the viewer’s – but there are plenty of eyes popping up in his own paintings, watching and possibly judging the audience itself, or even the artist.
It could be that element of judgment that has caused Geoff’s career to stutter. Immediate success in the 1970s led to self doubt and an on/off relationship with the canvass that most recently came to an end about a year ago, when he began putting his pictures together again. An exhibition at the Birdhouse, Totnes followed, along with plenty of positive appreciation.
‘The Eyestorm gallery in Exeter got in touch,’ says Geoff. ‘But they wanted the pictures much bigger.’ On a larger scale Geoff’s composition and colour might not be so effective.
His pictures are tightly hewn, and even the larger, more placid images have a dramatic tension that would be difficult to recreate on a larger canvass.
Geoff’s also a photographer and that way of looking at things at odd angles might be an inspiration for his work.
‘When I stopped painting last time,’ he says. ‘I gave all my equipment and materials away. But the need to paint was persistent, and it started to happen more often. It was an itch, and I’ve never been able to ignore an itch.’
Geoff is largely self taught, and the only pictures he says he saw before he embarked on his career were his father’s paintings, which were photorealistic in style – a far cry from his own more expressionist style. Geoff’s work has been compared to Rothko, with his block use of colour and Bacon, through his use of confined space to frame a frantic sitter.
Geoff is also a photographer, and his paintings not only spot a scene, but gaze at it, unblinking, like one of the many eyes that are in the pictures.
Download a pdf of this article, with more pictures.
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