Candida Stevens Gallery is delighted to present ‘As if by Osmosis’, a joint exhibition of new works by Kerry Harding, an English painter based in North Cornwall, and Lucas Reiner, an American painter with studios in Los Angeles and Porto. Both artists look to their surroundings for inspiration, focusing on the same subject matter for months or even years at a time. In Harding’s case, this is the coastal landscape that wraps around her and for Reiner it is the growth of trees within urban environments. Through these acts of sustained observation both artists have absorbed the ways in which external factors such as the weather, seasons, time and human intervention affect their subject matter, developing an understanding and connection that goes far beyond the visual. This level of intimacy is evident in their paintings, which soothe and disarm the viewer in equal measure.
Integral to both artists is the way they embrace the permeability of their chosen fabrics. Harding will often find the starting point for a new work on the back of existing canvases, guided by the marks that oils and bleaches have made from seeping through the canvas. A fortuitous incident earlier this year for Reiner, meanwhile, has led to an unorthodox approach to tempera painting on muslin, in which he applies preparatory gesso to the back of the fabric, pushing the substance through the weave to produce an irregular painting surface. For both artists, the element of chance and surrendering control to their materials is an important aspect of how they infuse their paintings with history and character.
Sharing the same earthly palette of blues, greys, yellows and reds, intriguing parallels between the ways both artists work begin to reveal themselves and provide an enriched viewing experience. The fragmentary and abstracted nature of Reiner’s work is complemented by the timeless and otherworldly feel of Harding’s landscapes. These are paintings not defined by the physical elements they represent but by the interaction between and sense of magnitude embedded in the shapes and layers used to form them.
Full essays on each artist can be read in the catalogues.
