Summer has well and truly arrived and we are enjoying being able to spend more time in the great outdoors. For LAF Recommends August, we have been inspired by exhibitions which help us reconnect with nature.
Solo shows by Ivan Lewis and Richard Konecky, together with group exhibitions CIRCLE Summer, A Summer Selection and Among the Trees; address the complexities of the natural world, the influences it brings to modern and contemporary art and the importance of nature in our lives.
Outside the central theme of August’s LAF Recommends, we have also selected two shows; Clay Today: A Showcase of Ceramics in Isolation which welcomes a group exhibition of 18 artists and ceramicists presented by The Cynthia Corbett Gallery; and Fake Abstract showcasing new works by Lino Lago at Rhodes Contemporary Gallery.
GROUP EXHIBITION: CIRCLE SUMMER
The group exhibition featuring a variety of latest works by Simon Gaiger, Stephen Smith and Tom Leape.
The exhibition showcases abstract and natural landscapes, balanced with seascapes, sculptures and photography, influenced by the rugged Cornish landscape.
ANNWN
Annwn, Welsh for Otherwordly, reflects Ivan Lewis’ parallel worlds of virtual and physical sanctuaries, along with his bilingual abilities of English and Welsh.
The paintings become a tool to navigate this fragile storytelling, where does it end and where does it begin?
A SUMMER SELECTION
An ever-changing selection of works from Tom McGuinness, Sarah Carrington, Alice Campbell and John Bellamy (RA CBE) – as well as new work from gallery artists.
A collection of rolling landscapes, rugged seascapes and vibrant portraiture, balanced with 15 performance studies by Chris Rigby.
ANALOGOUS TEXTURES
Explore Richard Konecky’s abstract relationship between plants, the human body and land.
Navigate effortlessly through traditional images of plants to the more abstract worlds beyond plants.
AMONG THE TREES
At a time when travel is limited, Among the Trees takes you on an adventure deep into the to Colombian rainforests, through to the remote Japanese islands and to the highest heights of a 9,550-year-old spruce in Sweden.
Guiseppe Penone’s Tree of 12 Metres is a hand carved skeleton from an industrial beam. The final piece shows what the tree would look like in the early stages of its life.
Over the past 50 years, artists have produced works that explore relationships to trees. Drawn in by their beauty and their complex nature, artists have produced sculptures, installations, drawings, paintings and photographs of trees from around the world.
FAKE ABSTRACT
Fresh new imagery by Lino Lago draws focus to the lack of historical meaning behind contemporary art.
The exhibition, Fake Abstract, consciously alludes to the history of art, but emphasises that contemporary art is the academy of today.
CLAY TODAY: A SHOWCASE OF CERAMICS IN ISOLATION
The first online ceramics exhibition features 18 international artists all working in mediums of clay, earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.
The works presented reflect various directions that these artists explored during the constraints of isolation.