Simon Averill 'Illumine'

SIMON AVERILL I L L U M I N E

“Nothing is more alien to me than an art which sets out to serve other purposes than those implied in the work itself… I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal, than what we actually see. We know that all that we can see of the objective world never really exists as we see and understand it. Matter exists, of course, but has no intrinsic meaning of its own, such as the meanings we attach to it.

Giorgio Morandi

These paintings are a result of Simon Averill’s ongoing fascination with landscape. More specifically they are an attempt to respond to the fleeting and transitory effects of light and how it acts upon particular locations that hold a resonance for him. These paintings are not intended, however, to be a specific record of a place; on site he might make drawings and often reference notes, but by the time he reaches the studio and tries to draw out the memory, we reach a different locus altogether.

The process of painting introduces infinite variables. In Averill’s case, the early formative stage of making a painting is full of speculative painterly language. In the latter phase, Averill’s preoccupation is with the surface of the paint itself as an attempt to establish a balance and subdue the maker ’s mark. Averill describes a desire for the painting to feel “almost as if it might have made itself.” This is a precarious conversation with paint, of trying to control and impose his will whilst allowing the matter to have its say. Averill states “ When it works well it is a dialogue.”

Some time ago, Averill made the decision to pare down and simplify, in order to try and capture the essential aspects of his subject. As a result the use of colour also became more restrained. In these recent works it is used tonally to warm or to cool. He has also simplified the illusory space in the paintings - preferring to concentrate on a relatively narrow depth of field; and compositionally some of the mark-making concentrates the eye on and just below the surface.

D e s p i t e a n a p p a r e n t s i m p l i c i t y, p a r a d o x i c a l l y, t h e s e works reintroduce a considerable degree of visual complexity. Strong vertical strokes hav e b e e n u s e d a s a kind of intuitive geometry to divide t h e p i c t u r e p l a n e , creating a sense of pace and rhythm. I n s o m e , i r r e g u l a r discs of translucent pale glazes catch t h e e y e a n d k e e p it on the move, whilst in others, th e i l l u s o r y r i p p l e s create movement but also serve to co m p r e s s t h e s p a c e .

These simple repeated compositiona l m o t i f s , a p p l i e d in layers, give the paintings an optica l r e s o n a n c e t h a t , on first viewing, can cause the eye t o s k i m a c r o s s the surface, constantly having to re - f o c u s ; a k i n d o f implied movement occurs. Yet in co n t r a d i c t i o n , t h e s e paintings encourage immersive scrutin y – t o b e w i t h i n the painting.

I am reminded of a quote by the pain t e r I a n M c Ke e v e r where he talks of “ The meeting point o f t h e w o r l d o u t there and in here, what is the edge tha t s e p a r a t e s m e ? ” Time spent with Simon Averill’s paintin g s p r o v i d e u s , t h e viewer, with a platform to ponder th i s q u e s t i o n . M a r k Rothko once said that “Art is an anec d o t e o f t h e s p i r i t , and the only means of making concre t e t h e p u r p o s e o f its varied quickness and stillness.” The i n h e r e n t b a l a n c e within these works provide us with bo t h s t a t e s - a s p a c e where we can meditate on and come t o t e r m s w i t h t h e ephemeral of that which we witness a n d t h a t w h i c h we are – at the core of their intricac y i s a m o m e n t o f oneness and understanding – a conte m p l a t i v e p l a c e o f external and internal enlightenment.

Jos e p h C l a r k e . 2 0 1 1

Of Light . acrylic on panel

2

. 110 x 122 cm

3

4

Translucence . acrylic on panel

. 61 x 185 cm

5

In Between Light . acrylic on panel

6

. 81 x 122 cm

7

8

Surface Shadows . acrylic on panel

. 81 x 122 cm

9

Dispersed Light . acrylic on panel

10

. 81 x 122 cm

11

Surface Light I . acrylic on panel

12

. 81 x 122 cm

Light Strata . acrylic on panel

. 81 x 122 cm

13

14

Half Light . acrylic on panel

. 81 x 122 cm

15

Light Divide . acrylic on panel

16

. 81 x 122 cm

17

18

Eye Level to Feet . acrylic on panel

. 88 x 122 cm

19

Blue Green Light Filter I . acrylic on panel

20

. 81 x 122 cm

Blue Green Light Filter II . acrylic on panel

. 81 x 122 cm

21

22

Surface Light II . acrylic on panel

. 81 x 122 cm

23

Shadow Lines . acrylic on panel

24

. 67 x 81 cm

25

Light Shift . acrylic on panel

26

. 81 x 122 cm

Light Rhythms . acrylic on panel

. 81 x 122 cm

27

SIMON AVERILL

1981-85 University of Brighton (BA Hons Fine Art)

1995

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

1987

Member of the Newlyn Society of Artists

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

1989

Part-time teaching at University College Falmouth

1996

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

1997

Spring Exhibition, Wilson Stephen Fine Art, London

NSA Critics Choice, David Lee, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1988

Salthouse Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall

1998

Panel Paintings, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London

1993

Cleveland Bridge Gallery, Bath

Newlyn Soceity of Artists, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

1996

The Independent Art Space, London with Wilson Stephens Fine Art

NSA Critics Choice, Theo Waddington, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

1998

The Gallery in Cork Street, London with Wilson Stephens Fine Art

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

2000

Wilson Stephens Fine Art, Walton Street, London

1999

ART 1999 Chicago, Chicago

2002

Albemarle Street, London, with Wilson Stephens Fine Art

Mixed Show, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London

2006

John Martin Gallery, Albemarle Street, London

Panel Paintings, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London

2007

Minutiae, Goldfish Contemporary Fine Art, Penzance

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

2009

Borrowed Light, Millennium

2000

NSA Critics Choice, Charlotte Mullings, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

2011

Illumine, Millennium

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

Art London, Chelsea

2002

Mixed Exhibition, The Beardsmore Gallery, London

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

2003

The Discerning Eye, Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Mall Galleries, London

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1984

Stowells Trophy Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London

2003

Four Person Show, Lynne Strover Gallery, Cambridge

1989

Four Person Show, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall

Mixed Show, New Millennium Gallery, St. Ives

NSA Critics Choice, Tim Hilton, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

NSA Critics Choice, Joan Bakewell, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

1990

Plymouth Museum, Devon. The South West Open

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

NSA Critics Choice, Peter Fuller, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

2004

Mixed Show, Campden Gallery, Gloucestershire

1991

Cornwall a Contemporary View, Stephen Bartley Gallery, London

NSA Critics Choice, John Russell-Taylor, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

NSA Critics Choice, Francis Graham-Dixon, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

2005

NSA Critics Choice, Norbert Lynton, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro

1992

South West Open, Plymouth Arts Centre and Truro Museum

Art London, Chelsea

7 Artistes Celtes at Chateau de Kerjean, Brittany, France

2006

Mixed Show, Goldfish Contemporary Fine Art, Penzance

Artists from Cornwall, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2007

Margins, Sherborne House Open, Dorset

Millfield Open Exhibition, Street, Somerset

Move, Goldfish at Vyner Street, London

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

1993

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

2008

Mixed / No Theme, Goldfish Contemporary Fine Art, Penzance

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

The Drawing Show, Kate Macfarlane & Mary Doyle, Exchange, Penzance

1994

Strandline, Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

Four Person Show, Plein 1 Gallery, Zeist, Holland

2009

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

Falmouth Connections, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall

Changing Landscape, John Martin Gallery, London

20/21 British Art Fair, The Royal College of Art, London

A Cornish Perspective, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

Mixed Winter, Millennium

1995

Artists from Cornwall, Amersfoort, Holland

2010

The House of Fairy Tales, Millennium

National Trust Centenary Exhibition, Christie’s, London

2011

Mixed Winter, Millennium

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Illumine’ by Simon Averill All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers

Photography by Lucie Averill Printed by Active Colour (www.activecolour.co.uk) ISBN 978-1-905772-?

MILLENNIUM Str eet-an-Pol St. Ives Cornwall 01736 793121 m a i l @ m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k w w w . m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k