Gary Kempston is an artist, printmaker and designer but many of you will initially recognise his illustration work from its regular appearance in The Guardian newspaper.
The selection published here demonstrates an array of styles employed by Gary although, on closer inspection, one easily uncovers similarities and connections between the pieces.
Often working on many canvases at once, his paintings and illustrations look to inspire one another. In this manner, relationships are forged across different mediums and projects.
You will notice similarities in colour, shape and application, which make his entire catalogue of work a continuous, self-referential stream of artistic output.
“Whilst in the studio, he maintains an open, questioning spirit and examines the relationship between conscious design and chance. The resulting territory of these experiments becomes the very subject matter for further work and results in a self-contained world of visual statements.“
This notion of the conscious application of chance, within the design, is a fascinating concept and one that has been explored by many great artists. It presents an unusual notion - Is an artist genuinely talented if he relies on chance, or does this ‘control’ of chance happenings, in itself, prove an artist’s worth, beyond a chaotic probability?
Of course many great artists have spoken of this indescribable quality, the expert hand guiding such unpredictable happenings in order to create masterpieces that were not entirely pre-ordained.
In a series of interviews with David Sylvester
between 1971-73, Francis Bacon talks of this magic quality:
“One of the things I’ve always tried to analyse is why it is that, if the formation of the image that you want is done irrationally, it seems to come onto the nervous system much more strongly than if you knew how you could do it. Perhaps, it’s that if the making is more instinctive, the image is more immediate.”
This irrational, almost thoughtfully ‘thoughtless’ application can be seen in Gary’s paintings; a true mark of an experienced artist and one whose confidence allows new areas of exploration within his genre.
Gary’s work contains a high energy and is a perfect demonstration of mark making. Each piece contains a rewarding mixture of movement, stasis, abstraction, with hints of realism and an exciting quality of experimentation. In the end, for the audience, it provides a complete and compelling collection.
Visit Gary’s Profile Page for contact details, website links and a summary of featured articles on Fallyrag.
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