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JONATHAN S HOOPER born 1962
Jonathan Hooper grew up in Cornwall, surrounded by the influences and atmosphere of the coastal landscape. His father was a gliding companion of Peter Lanyon, whom Hooper cites as being particularly important to his development as a painter. Other artists who influenced him in the years to follow were Patrick Heron and Terry Frost. His paintings recount the experience of being ̒in ̓ a landscape and not merely observing it. He now works between his studios in London and Cornwall. Recent exhibitions in Cornwall include Pentire Farm House, in association with the National Trust (2016); Hay Studio (2017); and The Rock Institute, Rock (2019). He has exhibited widely throughout the UK and Asia, with his paintings in private collections across the world. Hooper’s first solo exhibition in London is scheduled for October 2019 at The Nine British Art.
Solid Air No 12 & 13 form part of a series that seeks to blur the distinctions and boundaries between land, sea and air. They allude to the Atlantic “blast”, the relentless mass of air that collides with North Cornwall's west-facing cliffs, presses inland and carves the granite high grounds of Bodmin Moor. Seeming both to enlarge intimate fragments and condense elements from a more epic scale, these paintings tilt towards the reductivist tradition of European monochrome and palimpsest. Veils of a single colour partially obscure a more complex, but fugitive, underpainting. Also concerned with landscape, Newland No 5 is one of a series named for Newland Island, an unvisited pyramidal rock off the Pentire Peninsula, North Cornwall. Separated from the mainland by the attritional effects of wind and sea, Newland is a potent cipher for deconstructing contradictions of permanence and transience: it stands as an object of unf linching resilience, but is constantly relenting to forces of change.
cat 1
Jonathan S Hooper Solid Air No 12 oil on panel signed, titled and dated 2016 verso 40 x 40 cms (15¾ x 15¾ ins) framed: 44.5 x 44.5 cms (17½ x 17½ ins) £ 3,800
cat 2
Jonathan S Hooper Solid Air No 13 oil on panel signed, titled and dated 2015 verso 40 x 40 cms (15¾ x 15¾ ins) framed: 44.5 x 44.5 cms (17½ x 17½ ins) £ 3,800
cat 3
Jonathan S Hooper Newland No 5 oil on panel signed, titled and dated 2015 verso 50 x 50 cms (19¾ x 19¾ ins) framed: 55 x 55 cms (21½ x 21½ ins) £ 4,500
RICHARD FOX born 1965
Richard Fox is a self-taught artist with an instinctive eye for the interaction between form and space. He has exhibited widely in London and the provinces over the last ten years and installed his elegant sculptures in several public spaces. In his sculptures, now regularly displayed in the gallery, Fox explores the use of different materials – wood, marble and bronze – and their individual relationships with the final aesthetic. Each work investigates the interaction of form, space and movement; and how we connect with abstract structures.
Cornish Head I is carved from a piece of Cornish alabaster. The stone was a gift from a retired sculptor who found it whilst walking the f ields of Cornwall. A pared-down abstract form representing the head, this piece ref ines and relishes in the colour and translucent qualities of the stone. Wave XI carved from English oak on a stained sycamore base, is part of a series of sculptures exploring our complex human connection with the wave shape. Moebius IV, carved from Carrara Statuario marble, is one in a series of sculptures that ref lect on the Moebius form, a unique surface with only one side and one boundary. This sculpture is a balanced upright form that can be rotated on its base and viewed through different perspectives.
cat 4
Richard Fox Cornish Head 1 cornish alabaster on sycamore base signed on underside of sculpture unique 2019 height: 32 cms (12½ ins) £ 3,500
cat 5
Richard Fox Wave XI english oak on sycamore base signed and titled on base unique 2019 38.5 x 53 cms (15¼ x 20¾ ins) £ 3,200
cat 6
Richard Fox Moebius IV carrara statuario marble on slate base signed and titled unique 2019 height: 65 cms (25½ ins) £ 14,000
GARY WRAGG born 1946
Gary Wragg, who has been exclusive to The Nine British Art since 2017, studied at London’s Camberwell School of Arts from 1966 – 69 and then at The Slade from 1969 – 1971. He has held teaching and lecturing posts at Camberwell, St Martin’s, The Slade, Newcastle University, Manchester School of Art, Bath Academy and Portsmouth Polytechnic. He was a regular exhibitor with Nicola Jacobs Gallery and Flowers East in London from 2004 through to 2013. In 2018, his painting Oval Works, Gaze Left was included alongside Picasso, Nicholson and Lowry in a permanent new display at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The Lanchester Research Gallery in Coventry has just held a retrospective of Wragg’s paintings from 1963 to 2019, titled Stillness and Motion.
Painted at my Vyner Street studio in 2005, Sofa and Cushions ref lects an ongoing interest in still life objects, a theme in my work since the ’60s. These small paintings, that I do for my own pleasure, continue the love I have for the work Matisse produced when he lived and worked at Villa Le Rêve, in Vence. They help nourish what I do in many of my abstract paintings as a working interaction. Little did I know that in 2008, three years after making this painting, I would go to paint at Le Rêve itself. From the room at Villa Le Rêve where Matisse painted his late still-life interiors, I painted Le Rêve, Palm Tree; the palm tree had grown somewhat over the years since Matisse was there. The heat of the outside, the sunlight that f ires up and lifts the colours, and the contrast with the cool repose of the interior formed the focus for this work. Le Rêve, Balcony, Table and Shutters takes in the location where I would have breakfast, lunch or an evening drink, and look out to the garden remembering the very great works Matisse produced here from 1943 to 1947.
cat 7
Gary Wragg Sofa and Cushions oil on canvas board signed, titled and dated 2005 verso 20.5 x 25.5 cms (8 x 10 ins) framed: 27 x 32 cms (10½ x 12½ ins) £ 3,900
cat 8
Gary Wragg Le RĂŞve, Balcony, Table and Shutters acrylic on canvas board signed, titled and dated 2008 verso 61 x 51 cms (24 x 20 ins) framed: 71 x 61 cms (28 x 24 ins) ÂŁ 6,700
cat 9
Gary Wragg Le RĂŞve, Palm Tree acrylic on canvas board signed, titled and dated 2008 verso 61 x 51 cms (24 x 20 ins) framed: 71 x 61 cms (28 x 24 ins) ÂŁ 6,700
TIM WOOLCOCK born 1952
Tim Woolcock studied Art and Philosophy at Roehampton, University of London. He taught in London in the 1970s and 1980s before returning to painting full time in the 1990s. He currently spends part of the year on a working farm in County Carlow, Ireland, where his studio is located. Writing in The Times in 2013, Joanna Pitman favourably described Woolcock as ‘one of our finest modern British colourists’. Throughout his career, Woolcock has exhibited widely in England and Ireland and regularly shows with The Nine British Art. The Irish Government’s Department for Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has acquired one of his paintings for their collection in Dublin.
These Dorset and Wiltshire landscapes, with their abstract elements, were painted recently, and I have hoped they would capture the essence of the English and Irish countryside. It’s often refreshing to produce works which are bereft of humankind’s technological and industrial advances. The abstraction seen in these paintings is an attempt to show planetary inf luences on the earth and, perhaps, display time passing. The moon has always fascinated me, and its phases have been pivotal in many of my purely abstract pieces. I understand the paintings as an attempt to evoke the beauty and mystery of the English and Irish countryside, and its admired diversity.
cat 10
Tim Woolcock Dorset Coast oil on panel signed with initials and dated 2019 titled verso 31.5 x 42 cms (12½ x 16½ ins) framed: 40 x 50 cms (16 x 20 ins) £ 3,800
cat 11
Tim Woolcock A Wiltshire Farm oil on panel signed with initials and dated 2019 titled verso 31.5 x 42 cms (12½ x 16½ ins) framed: 40 x 50 cms (16 x 20 ins) £ 3,800
cat 12
Tim Woolcock Dorset Spring oil on panel signed with initials and dated 2018 titled verso 60 x 79 cms (23½ x 31 ins) framed: 69 x 88 cms (27 x 34½ ins) £ 7,500
ROBERT FOGELL born 1963
Born in 1963, Fogell was initially trained in sculpture conservation by the artist and conservator Paul Giudici. His original focus was on classical and modern stone, carrying out restoration work for private and public collections, including The British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, English Heritage and The National Trust. Having trained at Warwick University, Fogell took up a teaching post at Leicester University. “Combining art education and my own studio practice has formed a rewarding artistic journey,� comments Fogell, illuminating the symbiotic relationship between teaching and his own creativity. Working with us since 2016, Fogell is now solely represented by our gallery and is our most successful contemporary sculptor.
Conceived between 2018 and 2019, the works presented here each bear a similar footprint, even if they developed along different axes. Landscape Form is grounded but delicately balanced; reacting to the landscape as an observer, this work ebbs and f lows with movement that, nonetheless, creates a f inely contained continuity. Two Forms Connected realizes two elemental entities, units that engage in a dialogue and relationship that suggests the power of two together. Mariner is reminiscent of a travelling vessel with an ancient aura; it explores the journey we might take, and the collection of experiences that accumulate through time.
cat 13
Robert Fogell Landscape Form bronze stamped with initials number 2 from an edition of 5 cast in 2019 15 x 33 cms (6 x 13 ins) ÂŁ 3,500
cat 14
Robert Fogell Two Forms Connected bronze stamped with initials number 4 from an edition of 5 cast in 2019 17 x 25.5 cms (6ž x 10 ins) £ 2,900
cat 15
Robert Fogell Mariner bronze stamped with initials number 1 from an edition of 5 cast in 2019 19.5 x 35 cms (8 x 14 ins) ÂŁ 3,100
LEIGH DAVIS born 1976
These very recent paintings draw on the wild and rugged beauty of Cornwall, which continues to provide an inf inite source of inspiration for my abstract practice. I rely completely on my memory of colour, atmosphere and light when painting in my studio.
Since our first solo exhibition for Leigh Davis, in 2018, we have handled a significant number of paintings and sculpture by this talented young artist. A multi-discipline 1999 honours degree in ceramics, metals and plastics provided a platform from which he continues to experiment with, and perfect, techniques in paint and bronze. Inspired by landscape, Davis focuses on the deconstruction and isolation of forms and focal points. The next solo exhibition of his work at The Nine British Art is planned for the Autumn of 2020.
Kenidjack Valley conveys the sense of an industrialised valley, with the remains of mining works featuring prominently on the left of the painting. To the right, a circular water wheel form is cradled by the curved shape of the cove – the building remains that once housed this enormous wheel. Dark grey forms, representing the spoils of the mines, contrast with white and ochre shapes depicting the natural, undulating contours of the valley. Enveloped Forms portrays the moment the swell of the sea envelops rocks that are partly submerged. An abundance of expressive brush work evokes the movement of the sea, contrasting with sharply def ined, scribed lines that depict the hard edges of the rocks. The use of line is vivid and energetic in each of these works, juxtaposing layers and textures within the painted surface. This is strongly evident in the largest of the works presented here, Facing the Sea, which is animated by the coast at St Ives.
cat 16
Leigh Davis Kenidjack Valley acrylic on linen laid on panel signed titled and dated 2019 verso 30 x 60 cms (11¾ x 23½ ins) framed: 43.5 x 73.5 cms (17 x 29 ins) £ 3,200
cat 17
Leigh Davis Enveloped Forms acrylic on linen laid on panel signed titled and dated 2019 verso 40 x 70 cms (15¾ x 27½ ins ins) framed: 53.5 x 83.5 cms (21 x 33 ins) £ 3,500
cat 18
Leigh Davis Facing the Sea acrylic on linen laid on panel signed titled and dated 2019 verso 68 x 68 cms (26¾ x 26¾ ins) framed: 73 x 73 cms (29 x 29 ins) £ 4,900
KEITH MILOW born 1945
Keith Milow is an enigmatic artist who has lived and worked in London, New York and Amsterdam. He trained at the Camberwell School of Art and The Royal College of Art. His work infiltrated the avant-garde 1970s art scene alongside other British artists such as Derek Jarman, Gilbert & George and Richard Long. His first major show, at the Nigel Greenwood Gallery in 1970, attracted the interest of the Tate Gallery and they acquired several artworks during this exhibition. Milow has exhibited with us since 2017, the same year he was nominated for the Daiwa Foundation Art Prize. He currently has works included in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and was selected as one of the 44 exhibiting artists at the BP Portrait Award 2019, held at the National Portrait Gallery, from over 2,500 submissions.
The works presented here are the f irst of a series that reprise an earlier extended sequence of ‘Drawings’, on various metals, dating from 1988 to 1992. The initial series, numbering approximately 350 works, was made whilst I was developing some deliberately architectural sculptures, such as my series of works at One Canada Square, London. The ‘Drawings’, small paintings in fact, were charged with relating ground to image, as a wall support would with a relief sculpture. In the case of many of these works, there is a perceptual challenge between the visual richness of the oxidised metals and the imposition of an image. Unlike the earlier series, where a catalogue of disparate images was used, this series restricts itself to the play of dots, spheres and lozenges.
cat 19
Keith Milow D/11/17 oil on lead with gold leaf signed and dated 2017 titled verso 46 x 37.5 cms (18 x 14¾ ins) framed: 58 x 49.5 cms (23 x 19½ ins) £ 4,500
cat 20
Keith Milow D/02/17 oil on lead signed and dated 2017 titled verso 48 x 37 cms (19 x 14½ ins) framed: 60.5 x 48.5 cms (23½ x 19 ins) £ 4,500
cat 21
Keith Milow D/10/17 oil on lead with gold leaf signed and dated 2017 titled verso 46 x 37.5 cms (18 x 14¾ ins) framed: 58 x 49.5 cms (23 x 19½ ins) £ 4,500
JONATHAN CLARKE born 1961
Jonathan Clarke was born in Suffolk, UK, where he continues to work today. At the age of 16, he took up an apprenticeship with his father, the sculptor Geoffrey Clarke (RA), and began exhibiting his own sculpture in the early 1980s. His style, whilst abstract and architectural, carries a great deal of emotional resonance. Influences that Jonathan cites include the sculptors Eduardo Chillida and Anthony Caro, as well as two-dimensional artists such as Robert Motherwell and Mark Rothko. Clarke’s renowned skill has attracted several prestigious commissions, including an eleven metre wall-mounted cross for Ely Cathedral (The Way Of Life, 2001), an eye-catching figure for the town of Colchester (Boudica, 1999) and a twelve-piece exhibit for Trinity Hall’s permanent collection in Cambridge (Twelve, 2006).
The f irst two works presented here, Small Votive Figure and Tall Votive Figure, are concerned, as their titles suggest, with f ictional gods or deities. These unique pieces summon prehistorical imaginaries in cast aluminium, a distinctly modern sculptural medium. The next work, Regalia, is part of an ongoing series exploring the idea of façade, and the human drive towards human self-promotion through artif icial means. The need to foster an image of strength and imperiousness stretches back through history, from the act of wearing feathers in hair to denote importance and fearsomeness to the related adoption of helmets. In exploring how couples present themselves to the outside world, Regalia extends my fascination with f igures and the armour they adopt to protect themselves, both in a physical and metaphorical sense.
cat 22
Jonathan Clarke Small Votive Figure aluminium stamped with initials and dated 2019 unique height: 28 cms (11 ins) ÂŁ 3,200
cat 23
Jonathan Clarke Tall Votive Figure aluminium stamped with initials and dated 2019 unique height: 45 cms (17ž ins) £ 3,500
cat 24
Jonathan Clarke Regalia aluminium stamped with initials and dated 2019 unique height: 44 cms (17Âź ins) ÂŁ 3,800
JEREMY GARDINER born 1957
Jeremy Gardiner’s work creatively transforms the lessons learnt from pioneering modern British landscape painters such as John Tunnard, Ben Nicholson and Peter Lanyon. He is the recipient of many awards including a Churchill Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and a Harkness Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Numerous exhibitions, including four solo shows here in Bury Street, have cemented his position as one of the finest contemporary landscape painters in Britain. His next solo exhibition at The Nine British Art will be in 2020 following his travelling exhibition at St Barbe’s, Lymington and Falmouth City Art Gallery.
I have been making intaglio monoprints for several years. In this painterly form of printmaking, each impression is unique: the etched plate is worked individually, with colour added and the ink wiped differently each time a print is pulled. To achieve the intaglio surface texture of these prints I make impressions using low relief elements, forged in tile cement exposed to a high-powered butane torch. Sometimes I cut a three-dimensional low relief woodblock to create the impression of a detail within the print, a building or geological feature. The two intaglio prints presented here depict Wheal Coates (Cornish for mine chimneys), the location of a ruin that once housed a powerful steam engine. The colour tones that appear in these prints give a sense of the time of year, with the textures referring to the rocks that I have seen there. In this sense, there is a continuity between these works and the watercolour presented here – Shining Morning, Pendeen Watch – one of a series that began as f ield sketches and working line drawings. This work exaggerates shape, colour and form to harness the sensation of daybreak on the Cornish coast.
cat 25
Jeremy Gardiner Wheal Coates, Summer, Cornwall unique intaglio monoprint signed, titled and dated 2011 40 x 40 cms (15¾ x 15¾ ins) framed: 58 x 60 cms (23 x 23½ ins) £ 2,500
cat 26
Jeremy Gardiner Wheal Coates, Cornwall unique intaglio monoprint signed, titled and dated 2011 38 x 33 cms (15 x 13 ins) framed: 57.5 x 53 cms (22ž x 21 ins) £ 2,500
cat 27
Jeremy Gardiner Shining Morning, Pendeen Watch, Cornwall watercolour with jesmonite and acrylic on handmade cotton rag paper signed, titled and dated 2017 43 x 30.5 cms (17 x 12 ins) framed: 58 x 46 cms (23 x 18 ins) ÂŁ 4,300
three works x nine artists summer 2019 Published in 2019 The Nine British Art The Nine British Art 9 Bury Street St James’s London sw1Y 6AB Telephone: 020 7930 9293 Email: info@theninebritishart.co.uk www.theninebritishart.co.uk Š The Nine British Art 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 without first seeking the written permission of the copyright holders and of the publisher. Photography: Paul Tucker Photography Design: Alan Ward @ www.axisgraphicdesign.co.uk
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