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From: Amanda B
Category: Exhibitions
Date: 17 October 2003
The impact of Spencer Derry’s latest work hits me as I walk up the Gateway Theatre stairs to the bar area.
The Blood of the Artist is Spencer’s seventh solo art show. His new work is depicted in six paintings, Untitled 1-6. Spencer uses the colours blue and green which overwhelm me with a spiritual aura. The work is vibrant and colourful and easy on the eye. The figures in the paintings: a man, woman and couple are set against the tension of a sphere.
Untitled 1 is of an androgynous being pushed against a sphere that I think is symbolic of the world. Spencer expresses the human form dealing with life, love, external stresses and tensions created by modern society. In these six paintings he has introduced bold lines, aggressive brush strokes and a tactile canvas. His paintings are creating a feeling of freedom from within but also confine the figures inside the canvas. Although all figures in these paintings depict purity, there is an underlining sexual tension. The artist claims the sphere to be society and the individual’s struggling with its stresses resulting in tension, anxiety and resolution (acceptance). This art is accessible to the public and he hopes it will stir emotions and thoughts of the human experience. The message Spencer is conveying is that we should connect to our spiritual selves and not be so trapped in our western existence.
Spencer has previously been nominated for the Randolph Caldecott Society Award in 1991 at Blacon College. Other shows include St George’s Hall ‘Come together’ The Beatles Art Exhibition and ‘No Business like Show Business’ hosted by Ken Dodd at Liverpool Academy of Art and he also had two successful solo shows there.
The Blood of the Artist art show ends 23rd November.
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