David tress 2015 extract

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david tress


David Tress: 60 Not Out An exhibition in honour of David Tress’s 60th birthday is an occasion for celebration no less than an opportunity for retrospection and reassessment. With that in mind I have compiled a substantial monograph on the artist and his work, based on a friendship of more than 20 years’ duration, and a lasting interest in his work. That book is published to coincide with the present exhibition and the significant birthday, but a catalogue focusing specifically on his latest work was also deemed appropriate: hence this short introduction.

2  Uncer tain Summer (Elder flower), 2012   3  Red Hill (Llanthony), 2012

These days, Tress principally makes mixed media paintings on paper, and drawings in graphite or charcoal. No longer does he work in oils on canvas, and the brilliance of his work has much to do with the white of the paper shining through his acrylics and other media. Among the drawings is the splendid graphite Wet Day (St Martin’s in the Fields), in which the grand Trafalgar Square church looks as if suddenly transported to Venice, and seen across a stretch of canal or sea. At the same time the image is marvellously evocative of

graphite on paper   30 x 42 cms   113⁄ 4 x 16 1⁄ 2 ins   Pembrokeshire

mixed media on paper   65 x 84 cms   25 5⁄ 8 x 33 1⁄ 8 ins   Monmouthshire



the dialogue between foreground and background, about how we see things (or don’t notice them) close to us at the same time as far away. Also about how we often take things around us for granted (foreground blur and fragmented detail). The artist’s skill lies in uniting these disparate visual and conceptual impulses.

13 Sun I Saw on This Day (Carn Llidi), 2013   14  Green Hill ( Wet Spring), 2014

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate David on his remarkable achievement to date, and to wish him not only A Very Happy Birthday but many more productive years ahead. Andrew Lambirth Author and Art Critic March 2015

mixed media on paper   81 x 118 cms   317⁄ 8 x 46 1⁄ 2 ins  Pembrokeshire

mixed media on paper   66 x 82 cms   26 x 32 1⁄ 4 ins  Pembrokeshire



25 Turn Lef t For Muckish (Donegal), 2014

mixed media on paper   71 x 118 cms   28 x 46 1⁄ 2 ins   Ireland



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