Simon Gilpin | Between Now & Yesterday

Feb 17

Simon James Gilpin
Between Now & Yesterday

Focus Gallery, March 5 - 27, 2021

I have always found myself captivated by environments and our obsession with our surroundings. I am fascinated by both the urban landscapes we have built for ourselves, and the natural world we have moved away from. The idea of the conflict between human made and natural environments is at the very centre of my practice. I try to look at this theme from all angles, and find myself drawn to the places where this ‘battle’ takes place; the extremes of nature and the extremes of the city, but I am also intrigued by the places where the grey areas and blurring points lie, creating paradoxes within their similarities. Like cultivated city parks, overgrown disused areas of inner cities, and the human footprints in the hills and woods, where litter and machinery seem to lay like moss on the surface of a rock.

My paintings arise from photography, as it is important to me to capture an exact moment in time. I reproduce the image on a large scale, painting thickly and quickly using large brushes, palette knives and rags, it is important to me to convey a sense of energy and movement so I flick, throw and pour the paint onto the canvas, at this point the image can start to disappear and must be painted back in.

This process leads to the paint building up over long periods of time, even years, as traditional and unorthodox application methods are mixed and the painting takes on it's own life. Up close the texture of the paint, the flicking and throwing of colour gives a feel of a great surface and relief which is engaging in itself, while a move back will reveal a photographic sense of realism which suggests the origin of the image.

Sometimes people are present in my paintings as a distant stranger or a blurry passer by. Humans are, after all, the glue that link all my ideas of environment, but more often their presence is felt all the more strongly for their absence.

We are immersed in imagery and technology of all kinds in today's world, we can lose ourselves in the Internet and information designed to enrich our lives such as Facebook, yet we are further from nature than we have ever been, and in this new ‘digital age’ where images come cheaply and easily to our fingers, paintings are a welcome return to the skill and commitment of artistic creation, a connection to the nature we have moved away from. I attempt to create paintings that are traditional and yet still have a relevant voice for contemporary themes of modern life.

It is possible to create artwork that is visually appealing but also has something to say. It is this belief that drives me to keep picking up the brush.

Between Now & Yesterday
The work in this show was created over the last three years, building up textures and layers. The theme of this body of work is memory and time. I wanted to explore at how we relate to the forest when we are not there. How does it change in our minds eye? do the colours shift? does the nature of things become altered when they are less tangible and cannot be touched on a physical level.

SIMON GILPIN
Simon James Gilpin was born in Leeds, England in 1976. His love of painting can be traced back to his earliest memories. Visits to his grandmother’s house were always filled with the smell of turpentine and the paraphernalia of oil painting. His grandmother’s work hanging alongside paintings by her brother, Richard Eurich (R.A.), a respected war artist, were strong early influences.

Website
www.simonjamesgilpin.com

Facebook
@simonjamesgilpin

The youngest of five children, he grew up in the rural setting of a small farm on the edge of woodland, and has always felt a strong connection with nature. In 1980 his family was forced to move into a crowded council housing estate on the edge of the city of Leeds, following the sudden death of his father. This drastic and sudden change of environment made a huge impression, and created his deep-seated focus on landscape.

From the age of 15, Simon has been painting with oils after progressing from watercolours. This love of painting led him to pursue higher education, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999 from Bretton Hall University in Wakefield, UK. In the following years, he travelled extensively around the world, sketching and visiting major art collections. During this time he began to exhibit regularly, having his first major solo show at Hester Gallery in Leeds in 2005.

In 2006, while spending a year working and travelling through Canada, Simon met his wife Jean in Whitehorse, Yukon. In 2008 the pair married in Yorkshire and spent two years in Ilkley, UK before deciding to return permanently to where they first met. Simon is enjoying fatherhood since the birth of his son Owen in 2014, and is currently working as a professional artist, teacher and gallery manager. He has also had the privilege of organizing the visual arts for the Atlin Arts and Music Festival in Atlin, BC, attending an artist retreat at Dechenla Lodge in Northwest Territories, as well as having works purchased for the Haines Junction Visitor’s Centre and the Yukon Permanent Art Collection. Simon continues to exhibit his work both in Canada and the UK, and is proud to call Yukon, Canada his home.