Pennie Elfick, Between Spaces 11
When: 24th March – 15th April 2018
Where: The Slade Centre, The Square, Gillingham, North Dorset
£: Free
What is it?
In an age when we’re repeatedly told how busy our lives are, a new exhibition at Gillingham’s Slade Centre revels in the matchless joy of simply taking a minute. Thinking Line – Making Space is an exhibition combining the work of two Somerset artists Pennie Elfick and Tony Martin, both of whom draw inspiration from the environment but respond to it in quite different ways.
Tony Martin’s highly distinctive work is based on the geometry of landscape. Martin trained as a fine artist and made work about the landscape but outgrew conventional representations. Going back, quite literally, to the drawing board he rediscovered his passion for lines.
Pennie Elfick’s inspiration for her pared back, hard-edged abstractions comes from the world about her; the Somerset Levels her studio overlooks, but also the urban environment.
The work invites contemplation. It takes a moment to become attuned to the use of colour and to understand what is being shown. Much of it is made on tulipwood in acrylic and Elfick is not afraid to take a sander to it and begin again, painstakingly building up fine layers of paint then masking out sections and applying the next colour and so on. Only at the end does she remove all the tape and see the complete work.
More info: www.sladecentre.com
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