ART MATTERS

BY ENZO MARRA

This month I’m happy to introduce you to an artist who arrived in Brighton after growing up in Australia after being first born in Bath. Jack Hardy is now represented by Brighton-based Metropolis Contemporary Gallery (www.metropoliscontemporary.com/jackhardy/), and has already been included in the Troublemakers exhibition there. Having attended film school for a year, and having realised it wasn’t quite what he had expected, he dropped out looking for a more flexible creative path.

Following a painterly interest, an encounter with JeanMichel Basquiat led Jack to then work towards becoming a painter. This inspired him to travel through Europe before moving to Bristol, where he then had his first solo show, Open Hands, which was curated by Martyn Cross and Phil Root at Stokes Croft Gallery in December 2020.

Following this initial achievement he then was taken over by the urge to travel again, this time traversing across Egypt where he taught English and painting. Arriving back in the UK, he was given the opportunity to be an artist in residence for the brb project which was implemented by Caraboo. This residency allowed Jack to contact local artists and curators, and allowed him to be able to experiment with the painting and effect of large format canvases for the first time. His mentor Martyn Cross wrote about him:

“That same energy is there in Jack’s paintings and drawings. You know what he’s seeing and you know what he’s saying. There’s also a charming sense of naivety about what he creates which stems from his lack of formal training, and this is a good thing. There’s no dead weight. It’s fresh and it’s raw and it’s simple. It’s direct. No flab. The poetry he weaves with the words he introduces to a canvas are beautifully serene. He’s in a certain place and it’s the same place as you, if only you’d stop and look around. Even with some of his energetic mark-making there’s a calmness about their existence which suggests the author is in contemplation about his role in their creation. He’s finding his way in the world and he wants you to come with him.”

The directness and confidence seen in his images, especially for someone so young in years. The differing themes he is exploring, whether it may be portraiture, text-based or painted counterploys to said text, shows an enquiring mind that is still searching out ideas to paint and draw into being. The creative community in Brighton is always developing and changing with new voices joining the creative conversation. I’m glad that Jack has settled here and that his artworks will be viewable in Brighton, where we will be able to see them grow and mature as time passes by.