Hales Gallery
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06 June - 27 July
Inspired by Dmitri Shostakovich, Aubrey Williams explores the thematic tensions that appear between the music and that of his very own inspirations and culture. The relationship between the composer and the artist conveys intertwining ideas and through Williams' paintings brings together two similar minds. Exploring the sensory elements that Williams himself expressed when hearing the finale of Shostakovich's sympathy No.1 for the first time in early 1940s while in his mid‐teens: he referred to 'seeing and feeling colour' through the composition of Shostakovich's music. His artworks show a certain rhythm and explosiveness which is complimented by the sheer size of the pieces. Taking 10 years to complete, a full sensory experience is gained: sound, shape and texture are all explored and experimented with.
Aubrey Williams (1926‐1990) was a prominent Guyanese artist and art lecturer. Through his professional activity as an agronomist in the early years, he came into contact with different tribes inhabiting the country, thus exposing himself to their culture, way of life, artefacts, and the spiritual and ritualistic ideologies. This deep connection and understanding would inspire him profoundly throughout his career. In the early 1930s Williams became involved with the Working People's Art Group in Guyana under the encouragement of E.R. Burrows and between 1954 and 1955 studied art at Central St. Martin's School of Art in London. It was during these years that he became exposed to Abstract Expressionism ‐ a movement at its prime in those years ‐ looking at works by Pollock, Rothko, Klein, Newman and others. Largely influenced by the German Expressionist and American Abstract Expressionist movements, he also used his own perceptions of 'pre‐ Columbian Indian iconography of Guyana' in his works. Throughout his life Williams was exposed to a mixture of transatlantic cultures, first growing up in Guyana and then studying in Britain, and later spending a lot time working in studios in Jamaica and Florida. These different experiences all found their reflection in Williams' art.
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Hales Gallery opened in 1992 as an alternative space in Deptford, South London. Hales successfully launched the careers of a number of emerging British artists at that time, including among many others, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mike Nelson and Sarah Jones. The venue’s café became a social focal point for artists and created a good environment for the development and exchange of ideas. In 1997 Hales became a commercial gallery and began to represent artists from international backgrounds including Tomoko Takahashi, Spencer Tunick, Hew Locke and Sebastiaan Bremer. In 2004 Hales moved to its current gallery space in the Tea Building in London’s East End.
G3 The Tea Building, London, E1 6LA
020 7033 1938
info@halesgallery.com
www.halesgallery.com -
Owl and Pussycat
OAP has jettisoned the scruffiness that won it cool points with the anti-hipster set in favour of an admirably understated makeover. Low lighting, vintage furniture, black paint & T-shirted, tattooed staff suit the 17th-century tavern - but so does the streak of surprising decadence about the first-floor dining room's menu & sensibly priced wine list.
Real ales & a spacious terrace point up the pub's everyman appeal.
34 Redchurch Street, City of London, Greater London, E2 7DP
020 3487 0088
Link
http://owlandpussycatshoreditch.com/
reservations@owlandpussycatshoreditch.com
