From late May to early July we present Paradise, an uplifting celebration of summer vitality, exquisite flora and fauna and luscious painting, curated by the highly acclaimed Rapture collective and focused on new paintings by Jesse Leroy Smith alongside other invited artists.
This immersive exhibition of colour and light includes work by Michael Angove, Fleckner, Lucianna Whittle, Jacques Nimki, Richard Ballinger, Anthony Garratt, Mhairi Treharne, Soma Bognar, Sharon Purves, Sethe Smith, Belinda Ireland and others. The show is curated around recent work by Jesse Leroy Smith that is profoundly shaped by his many residencies and journeys across Greece, including a 20 by 10ft frieze painting on canvas tarpaulins, influenced by families dining and socialising in the tavernas and bars of Greece, surrounded by the wild creatures he observed, drew and collaged there. From highly collectable pieces to hidden gems by emerging artists, this exhibition has been created in praise of painting in all its guises and brings together works by artists of international note with that of brilliant new graduates. Each of the included artists has been inspired by travels to wild landscapes or imaginary places, all working with Rapture to deliver a deeply generous show of positivity and homage to Nature that will include Jesse’s expansive tableaux alongside miniature icons, reverential trompe l'oeil images in coloured pencil, and collages disfigured by a heady combination of power tools and emotion.
