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