Richard's Art Noticeboard: Stewart Geddes: Un-seeking the Captive

Stewart Geddes: Un-seeking the Captive is at Andelli Gallery (near Wells) until 11 July 2021.

Stewart is showing some 25 recent paintings. As he notes in the catalogue: I have never felt more gratitude toward my work than during these last 15 months. Despite the limited horizons of several lockdowns, the short daily journey to the studio stimulated far greater journeys of the imagination and intellect through the medium of paint… Painting has never felt more urgent to me. For me, creativity is a fundamentally optimistic activity, and during these testing times to have painting in one’s life has been a gift.

And the results of this work are a joy: uplifting and energising. The paintings are rich, colourful and vibrant. An architecture of bold, broad, gestural strokes hold near chaotic fields of marks and splashes in dynamic tension.

The works fill the principal, white, exhibition gallery space of Andelli. The display includes a carefully curated display of books which nod to the inspirational achievements of masters such as Matisse and Bonnard, but also makes particular reference to British abstract painters – notably, Albert Irvin, Basil Beattie and John Hoyland. But the gallery is also part of a home, and a few of Stewart’s paintings have infiltrated the living spaces where they establish a different sort of presence in dialogue with a varied collection of artworks and a cornucopia of fascinating objets d’art.

A terrific exhibition.