- Venue
- The Gowlett Arms
- Location
★★★★ out of ★★★★
“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.” The Rolling Stones, Wild Horses, 1971, lyrics and music by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards.
Appropriate to this reviewer’s own ‘Icelandic expedition’ to hunt down the venue in Peckham, wild horses indeed could not hold back the desire to locate this richly atmospheric solo exhibition of new paintings by Adam Laurence Hedley. As the so-called snow (more like dandruff) trickled from the sky in the afternoon of Saturday 23 March, the suburban playground nearby brought to mind an idea of play – not just with childish energy but with meticulous painting technique.
Upon discovering The Gowlett Arms there was a fascination with the choice of venue – it’s down-to-earth climate and colourful environment only accentuate the accompanied paintings. Although there were no moments of quiet in the space, the scattered paintings were justly displayed close to hubbubs of conversation, sport, and leisure indicative of their homely roots. Clearly the involvement of the Parallel Point group (made up of curator Alice Lee and artist Hedley) curating Horses questions the issue of art display, discussed via their individual disciplines, and kudos goes to Points’ ‘middle-finger’ to the frequently-used sterile and banal white cube space. The abstract fluid blobs that centrally occupy each painting ‘rule their roosts’ without proverbial ‘iron fists’. Varying between architectural structures and fantastical objects, the exhibition sets the goal to show the viewing public what can potentially exist in a canvas, and revealing a conversation between the symbolic order and the self which succeeds with the choice of venue, and curation of the show.
To suggest that the exhibited abstract images could only be imagined by riding a ‘magical mystery tour’ is absurd as Hedley’s inventive use of oil paint is refreshing yet calm, original and unparalleled. Each piece displays a unique visual background that re-invents previous notions of colour, turning an otherwise ‘natural landscape green’ into a ‘dispirited intrusive monster’ for example, whose goal is to accentuate the cheeky pinks and mood-swinging yellows. It is to this effect that an outstanding painting in the show is the titular ‘Bring on the Dancing Horses’ which not only contains the most spectacular name but also embodies the exhibits ‘no-holds barred’ attitude.
The show is a surprise to someone who is used to visiting the high art galleries of Old Street, Cork Street or Baker Street for that matter and comes recommended as one of the most promising painting exhibitions in 2013.
It is a regret that this reviewer was unable to also visit Dog & Pony Show at Power Lunches Art Cafe in Hackney, featuring Hedley’s works on paper, as not being London-based has proven once again to be disadvantageous but not to finding the potential new stars of tomorrow.
