The Elemental North: Jake Attree & David Blackburn, Messum’s Fine Art, 28 Cork Street, London W1, until 6th February, 2015
It is not because of having lived there that I really like this show of work by two Yorkshire artists but because of their very differing skills in depicting and more importantly, capturing a sense of place.
David Blackburn b. 1939
ACROSS THE VIADUCT, 2005
pastel
48 x 36 cm
Courtesy of Messum’s Fine Art
David Blackburn’s pastels reflect his having lived in Australia in the 60s and 70s and engagingly challenge our concepts of the horizon and what we see. Instead they demonstrate “the relationship between the unnoticed and the infinite”.
Jake Attree b.1950
The Bank of the River Aire – Early Morning
oil pastel on card
58 x 61 cm
Courtesy of Messum’s Fine Art
Jake Attree’s works are of more familiar form but his use of impasto presents an individual approach which when depicting a building such as York Minster has a sculptural element too. There is almost an air of mystery to his works, a sense of time stood still.
There is also a similar exhibition at Brooksbank School in Yorkshire (20th – 30th January) bearing the same title. It features work by sixth form pupils and recent alumni hanging alongside works by Attree and Blackburn and is aimed at giving the students a fuller picture of the commercial art world.
You will not be surprised to learn that David Blackburn was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for his services to art.
Tim Forrest's E & A 