Surreal works displayed at Exeter gallery

This September, in Exeter’s chic Southernhay quarter, an exhibition of Surreal works will launch at leading commercial gallery gloss - Art Exeter.

The exhibition, titled The Surreal and The Absurd, will feature over thirty original paintings, photographs, sculptures and film by a range of accomplished artists, primarily living and working in South West England.

Lucinda Cusdin, Gallery Manager and Exhibition Curator, said: ‘The Surreal and The Absurd will bring a range of challenging works together and, although we housed lithographs by Salvador Dali in the Modern Masters display last year, this will be the first time contemporary Surreal pieces have been brought together at gloss-Art Exeter.

Kindly, the family of Conroy Maddox have offered to loan us some pieces from their collection and Cornwall-based artist Andrew Lanyon has sent a range of paintings, books and film. Alongside these prolific artists, visitors can view the works of up and coming graduates from The Royal College and University of The Arts London.’

Young Tokyo-based artist Yasuhiro Onishi, who has never exhibited in the South West before, is inspired by popular culture. His dark portraits are amalgamations of newspaper cuttings and photographs, but interspersed with shadowy characters and Kafkaesque objects. The Surreal and The Absurd will showcase his most recent collection of small scale portraits, which display a playful twist on the style of the old masters; references spanning regal portraiture to medieval plague doctors can be noted throughout.

In contrast, the graphic work of Jonathon X Coudrille has strong associations with Surrealism and he firmly aligns himself with the Stuckist movement. His Dali-esque paintings are absurd, surreal scenes involving female figures in fairly mundane settings. Viewers will often find imagery of the sea and moon in his work; this may be his way of demonstrating his love of his home county that is Cornwall, a landscape that has been a constant source of inspiration for him throughout his entire life.

Similarly to Adam Christian Graddon, Photographer Paul Biddle uses everyday objects, studio lighting, high technical standards and a playful touch to create his compositions. His highly original style of image making has won Biddle several awards, including Golds from The Royal Photographic Society and The Association of Photographers as well as exhibitions both locally and nationally.

South West Academicians Michael Beach and David Brooke will also have a presence in the show as well as female artists Jennie White and Anna Grayson, who saw huge success at this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

The Surreal and The Absurd will take place at gloss-Art Exeter, No. 1 Barnfield Crescent, Exeter (opposite the Barnfield Theatre) from Saturday 6th September – Sunday 28th September, with a private view from 6-9pm on Friday 5th September.
Further information is available by calling the gallery on 01392 278522