JOHN GRICE Paintings 2010 – 2015
T 07980 161306 E john@jgrice.co.uk www.jgrice.co.uk
Foreword John Grice’s paintings take the traditional subjects of portraiture and still life, and challenge expectation through unusual juxtapositions. His artworks are created through a process similar to collage, using found imagery, the artist’s own photography, and observationaldrawing. Acting like an image on the cover of a novel these wonderfully colourful, complex artworks, act as distillations of longer narratives. They invite the viewer to draw out ideas, which may lie in wait to be discovered. The portraits in this catalogue strive to reveal the psychological state of the person by a variety of illustrative means. “Birds, leaves, berries and other natural forms act like poetic metaphors and cluster around the head, alluding to an inner world”. The still-life paintings are enhanced by associations and dialogues that might appear in relation to familiar bird species. Potential narratives are supported by titles to the pieces that make connections with ‘the precarious tension of opposites’ written about by Graham Sutherland with his references to the hairsbreadth between joy and sorrow, beauty and betrayal, stillness and clamour. The three studies of Shakespeare characters owe much to some insightful and powerful photography of homeless people by Lee Jeffries. The skilled execution of these paintings reveal a true mastery of the medium as well as a deep understanding of traditional values in painting. The artist’s careful research and richly varied use of source material have created a compelling, and visually striking body of work. – Lucy Harbut Prints are available from selected artworks in editions of 30. They are published to Fine Art Trade Guild standards and are sized 40 x 40 cm (square image), or 30 x 42 cm (rectangular image). Prints are priced at £80.
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Conflict and Memory Oil on canvas, 2014 100 x 100 cm (Sold) (Print available) 6
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Art Forms in Nature Oil on canvas, 2014 100 x 100 cm 8
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Butcher Birds Oil on canvas, 2014 84 x 60 cm (Sold) (Print available) 10
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The Promise of Spring I Oil on canvas, 2014 100 x 100 cm (Print available) 12
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The Promise of Spring II Oil on canvas, 2014 100 x 100 cm 14
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The Promise of Spring III Oil on canvas, 2015 100 x 100 cm 16
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Stillness and Clamour III Oil on canvas, 2014 100 x 100 cm (Sold) (Print available) 20
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Separation Oil on canvas, 2013 60 x 84 cm (Sold) (Print available) 22
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Stillness and Clamour II Oil on canvas, 2013 100 x 100 cm (Print available) 24
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Echinacea Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm (Sold) 26
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Rotation Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm (Sold) (Print available) 28
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Tulips Oil on canvas, 2010 100 x 100 cm (Sold) 32
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Calla Lillies Oil on canvas, 2010 100 x 100 cm (Sold) 34
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Joy and Sorrow Oil on canvas, 2013. 100 x 100 cm (Print available) 36
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Thief in the Night Oil on canvas, 2012 100 x 100 cm (Sold) (Print available) 38
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Anemones Oil on canvas, 2010 100 x 100 cm (Sold) 40
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Stillness and Clamour I Oil on canvas, 2013 100 x 100 cm (Sold) (Print available) 42
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Beauty and Betrayal Oil on canvas, 2013 100 x 100 cm (Print available) 44
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Silent Correspondence Oil on canvas, 2013 60 x 84 cm (Print available) 46
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Water Table Oil on canvas, 2011. 100 x 100 cm (Sold) 48
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Ariel Oil on canvas, 2013 102 x 76 cm (Print available) 50
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Ophelia Among the Flowers Oil on canvas, 2013 102 x 76 cm (Print available) 54
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Puck Oil on canvas, 2013 102 x 76 cm (Print available) 56
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Selected Exhibitions Innocent Fine Art. Bristol (Gallery Artist) Harbour House Gallery, Kingsbridge The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Bath Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery Bristol Guild Alveston Gallery, Penzance
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Designed by Lucy Harbut 2015
T 07980 161306 E john@jgrice.co.uk www.jgrice.co.uk