“A brief eternity”
A new exhibition of paintings by Lavinia Croft & Ian Hunter
At the Casa de Cultura in La Cala de Mijas, 15th April – 2cnd May 2011

Public Opening 20.00–22.00hrs, Friday 15th April 2011. Drinks.

Public question and answer session and discussion with the artists in the gallery at 11.00hrs on Wednesday 20th April.

An interview with the artists
In an interview for the Sur in English, Lavinia talked passionately about her paintings, saying her work derives from sources such as landscape, flowers and less tangible origins, but all are united by an overriding subjective use of colours.

“I start from a selection of photographs pinned up before me, which are transformed into a series of marks which may diverge significantly from their source.

I paint in oils on canvas with both brushes and my fingers, building up layers which are periodically disrupted by foreign elements – sprayed or painted lines in strong colours such as red or yellow. My work has been compared with watercolour, but technically these layers are generally opaque and build with great subtlety to the final overall richness of the finished work. Their scale and orientation are the result of trial and error and years of experience, through which I create the necessary balance between the internal components and the external dimensions.” In the era of the I-Pad these are decisive choices which are key to the works’ success.

Having worked for many years in UK higher education Ian talks with conviction about his ongoing quest for original images which connect with a wider public.

“It has been said that my work has the common touch and I am comfortable with that, though the references range from the everyday to the religious. Typically there is an internal story which is discovered and resolved through the process of working. It may seem unusual to start a work without having first settled its meaning, but this is what is exhilarating to me, and which produces the unexpected and new.

So a woman stands naked except for being covered in chocolate in front of a relief from the Temple of Athena Nike in Athens. Or “mother superior” stands with hands of blessing on a canvas with riotous colours edged with images of hands, heads and feet derived from thermal photographs. In any event, the human form is a central element, nourished by a knowledge and love of the art of preceding centuries.” This is an original and ambitious artist whose time has come.

For further information please go to:

www.laviniacroft.co.uk

www.ianclivehunter.co.uk