An Exhibition of Original Paintings by
Stephen McLinton 16th April ~ 27th April preview 15th April 5.30pm - 7.30pm at
STUDIO STUDIO 18 18 23a Beresford Street . St Helier . JE3 7YD tel: 01534-734920
website: https://studio18.co.uk
Biography Fred Sands had mentored me as a student at de la Salle College and then continued to advise me in art during my early adult years as I trained in architecture. He always thought I should paint instead of designing buildings. I promised him that I would paint whenever I had the chance. That chance has now come after a forty year freelance consultant career designing progressive architecture internationally. This exhibition is the first of many exhibitions that I will do to keep my promise to Fred and to my parents who all believed that I am, first and foremost, an Artist. Fred had told me that all art is an abstraction from what we perceive around us. I have always seen abstracts in most things around me and Fred understood this when he first saw my artwork after I joined de la Salle junior school. Even digital photographs, accurate as they may seem to us, are in themselves just abstractions of the real thing too, they are not the real thing. Only the real thing is the real thing, and whatever we do to try to capture it or copy it is already just an abstraction of the real thing. It is therefore inevitable that any painting can only ever be an abstraction of something else - even the hyper-realistic paintings which seem so real - are just an abstraction of whatever it is that exists outside our brain that our eyes perceive around us - and the closer you look the more you will see that any painting or photograph is just paint and ink. Fred said that all paintings are 'just paint' but that the paint had been manipulated by the Artist to create an illusion that tricks the viewer into seeing either what they want to see or whatever they think they are meant to see, and sometimes both, and sometimes more as the viewer's imagination is inspired. Some people see things more quickly than others. There is no right or wrong way for somebody to react to a painting, or better or worse talent in recognising things that others don't see in a painting. Instead, there are just different responses, different reactions and different interpretations experienced by each individual viewer as they observe any painting. If you observe my paintings for long enough you will see things that you did not initially see. You will notice in all of my paintings that I have deliberately created paintings that are best viewed from more than 3 to 4 metres away rather than from close up. This is because this is the distance from which most paintings will be viewed when they are hung on walls, and because I think that this is the ideal distance from which my intended illusion will appear best. However, the closer you get to my paintings the more you will see that they are 'just paint', just as Fred had said, but I have taken this to the extreme. This can be a little disconcerting and even disappointing for some viewers, but it is a deliberate technique that I have chosen in order to exemplify what Fred had said to me, that paintings are just paint, nothing but paint. However, when you move away from the painting to the correct distance you will see the illusion forms again in your brain, it is designed that way; to trigger solutions in your brain. When you are up close to my paintings I want you to see the painting for what it really is, just paint, but when you step back I want you to see the intended image, and more. Whenever we look at any painting we will perceive it in our own way and this perception can differ from the perceptions of other people. When I qualified in Philosophy I chose to study the philosophy of art, perception and creativity among other aspects of Philosophy. In the philosophy of art we examined what makes people see things a certain way. I have made this series of paintings as examples of the trick that art plays on our brain. Some will see one thing and others will see another. Some of my paintings have hidden images that reveal themselves to you if you decide to look at them for a longer period of time than most people usually spend looking at a painting. I promise you that the longer you look at mine the more you will see. So I encourage you not to rush through the exhibition but to give yourself enough time to see these 'other things' that are deliberately there. Everything you discover in each of my paintings was deliberately painted. Some of my paintings will reveal new things in different lighting levels too. Some use neon paint. Some are three dimensional and reveal their secret when you look at them from an angle. I have the opportunity to paint just like Fred but I prefer not to in case others feel that I am using his style for my own benefit and that am not being original. Instead, I will paint what Fred had said I should paint; i.e. that I should paint what I feel I should paint.
Ferry Wreck
Garden Fence
Bushfire
Silver Fields
NYE Fireworks
Le Catel Fort - Greve de Lecq
Light, Water, Sands
Tree Shadows
Light, Water, Sand 2
Bushfire 2
Lane to Saie Harbour
Angel
Light, Water, Sand - St Aubin
Tree Bark Detail
Gum Tree & King George ll
Light,Water, Sand - St Aubin 2
Sunset on Tree
L'Hermitage
St Aubin's Fort
The Ghost on the Tree at Sunset