NICK BODIMEADE | A Landscape of Echoes: solo show of large-scale paintings in oil and acrylic
This exclusive solo show of new large-scale 'Cornwall-based' oil and acrylic paintings by Nick Bodimeade will be a revelation to those more familiar with his 'beach-themed' canvases.
A LANDSCAPE OF ECHOES
'I have been a regular exhibitor at the Porthminster Gallery with my paintings of figures on beaches and the abstracted spaces and patterns formed by the figures’ interactions, with sand, sea, light and, most importantly, each other. So, I was delighted to be asked by the Director and Curator, David Durham, to turn my attention from the coast to the interior.
'Exploring the landscapes of Penwith and The Lizard by car, foot, and particularly by bike, I am always struck by its complexity: Its jumble of fields, scattered buildings, lanes, hills and valleys, its clouds shaped like bushes pushed by the wind, bushes pushing back like lumps of rock, and rock seeming to move as the viewer moves, confusingly, like the badly camouflaged Friesian cows that fragment the view with their stark patterning. A higgledy-piggledy conglomeration of echoing forms, which is reflected in the paintings’ making: The sense of movement, the engagement with material and process, the echoing of forms, and the attempt to find the underlying patterns that keep chaos at bay.
'There are also other echoes at play in this work: It’s impossible in painting this landscape not to be conscious of the achievements of Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, Sandra Blow, et al. There is something about this landscape that feeds painting – maybe something to do with complexity, difficulty, resistance, as well as its stark beauty, and extreme weather.
'The paintings in the show have their origins in particular locations, as the titles suggest, but in the end they leave the particularities of location behind becoming combinations of painterly elements that resonate with the viewer’s broader ‘sense of place.’'
Nick Bodimeade, March 2023
A Landscape of Echoes : Nick Bodimeade.
A solo show of his new Cornish landscape paintings.
Porthminster Gallery, St Ives, and porthminstergallery.co.uk
22nd April – 20th May 2023
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Porthminster Gallery, St Ives is pleased to present the first solo show of paintings in 10 years by one of the gallery’s permanently represented names – the West Sussex-based artist, Nick Bodimeade.
In an important break from Bodimeade’s series of paintings of figures on beaches – and the abstracted spaces and patterns formed by the figures’ interactions with sand, sea, and light – his latest body of work explores the jumbled, ‘higgledy-piggledy’ landscapes of Penwith, and The Lizard peninsula.
‘Exploring the landscapes of Penwith, and The Lizard, by car, foot, and particularly bike, I am always struck by their complexity: The jumbles of fields, scattered buildings, lanes, hills and valleys, clouds shaped like bushes pushed by the wind, bushes pushing back like lumps of rock, and rock seeming to move as the viewer moves, confusingly, like the badly camouflaged Friesian cows that fragment the view with their stark patterning. A higgledy-piggledy conglomeration of echoing forms.
‘The paintings I have made for this new show try and reflect this in their making, the sense of movement, the engagement with material and process, the echoing of forms and the attempt to find the underlying patterns that keep chaos at bay. There are also other echoes at play in these works: It’s impossible painting this landscape not to be conscious of the achievements of Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, Sandra Blow, et al. There is something about this landscape that feeds painting. Maybe something to do with complexity, difficulty, and resistance, as well as its stark beauty and extreme weather.
‘The paintings have their origins in particular locations, as the titles suggest, but in the end, they leave the particularities of location behind, becoming combinations of painterly elements that resonate with the viewer’s broader sense of place.’
Price range: £1,800 – £5,100.
The paintings in ‘A Landscape of Echoes : Nick Bodimeade’ solo show will be complemented by a collection of new ceramics by Barry Stedman, along with a curated selection of artworks by some of the gallery’s contemporary artists, and Modern British names – such as Tate St Ives artists, Patrick Heron, Barbara Hepworth, and Sandra Blow – who were also inspired by the changing forms of the Cornish landscape.
If you would like to receive a preview of all the works that will feature in the exhibition, or information about pricing, please contact the gallery via catherine@porthminstergallery.co.uk
PRESS-READY 300DPI CMYK IMAGES CAN BE ACCESSED HERE.
Press Enquiries
Catherine Lewin: +44 (0)1 736 795 888 / catherine@porthminstergallery.co.uk
Details for Listings
Porthminster Gallery, 22 Fore Street, St Ives TR26 1HE
near the Barbara Hepworth Studio and Garden
+44 (0)1736 795888 | porthminstergallery.co.uk
Open six days a week, Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 11am–4pm
Admission free
Social Media
#porthminstergallery
Twitter and Instagram: @porthmingallery
Notes to Editors: About the Featured Artist
Nick Bodimeade
With the advent of digital photography, Nick Bodimeade, who until that point had been an abstract painter and maker of representational and observational drawings, became fascinated by the possibilities new technology provided for the studio painter. His works are now as much an exploration of the relationship between paint and digital manipulation as they are an exploration of subject.
Bodimeade lives and paints on the flood plain of the Ouse at the foot of the South Downs near Lewes in East Sussex. The imagery in his paintings is derived from drawings and photographs done in locations on the south coast of England, particularly Sussex and Cornwall, and on research trips to what he describes as the ‘distorting mirror’ of New Zealand and Australia.
Born in 1957 in Richmond, London, Bodimeade has a BA in Fine Art from the university of Wolverhampton and, after many years as a lecturer in Fine Art at a number of art colleges, now lives and works as a full time painter near Lewes in East Sussex. He exhibits widely in London and the South.
Porthminster Gallery, St Ives has represented Nick Bodimeade exclusively in Cornwall since 2009, and has gained the artist a wide international following.
Current and previous solo shows at the Porthminster Gallery
2023 ‘A Landscape of Echoes' solo show
2013 ‘From Here’ solo show
Previous group shows at the Porthminster Gallery
2021 'A Space to Breathe' group show
2019 ‘Festival into Fall’ group show
2018 ‘Summer' group show
2017 ‘Ten Years On : Showing Off’ group show
2015 ‘Summer Show’ group show
2014 ‘Summer Show’ group show
2012 ‘Summer Exhibition’ group show
2011 ‘St Ives Summer’ group show
2010 ‘Summer: Cornwall: Coast’ group show
2009 ‘Spring Group Show’
Notes to Editors: About the Porthminster Gallery
In 2017 the award-winning Porthminster Gallery celebrated its tenth year in St Ives, Cornwall.
Established by art patrons and gallery directors David Durham and Dee Bray-Calvert in York in 1999 as Minster Fine Art, the business relocated to St Ives in 2007 to concentrate its focus on the art of St Ives and Cornwall. Since then, the gallery has championed the work of more than 90 living British artists through its progressive and expertly curated programme of 160+ shows and has showcased and introduced many young up-and-coming artists to an appreciative local and global collectorship.
The gallery has also gained a strong reputation over the last 13 years for its impressive shows and changing stock of 20th Century Modern St Ives and British Art. In July 2022, the gallery opened a second gallery venue just opposite, dedicated to showing these works in a first-floor apartment-like space.
Porthminster Gallery won the Cornwall Today readers’ award for ‘Best Art Gallery in Cornwall’ 2014/15 and has been featured in BBC2’s Coast series, and more recently in Sky Art’s Tate Walks series.
The gallery offers buyers and collectors the easy and affordable incentive to buy original art up to £2,500 spread over 10 monthly 0% APR instalments with the Own Art purchase scheme.
