We’ve 2 new collections in the gallery for September from 2 of our fast rising young stars. Scottish artist Lily Macrae and Bristol based Lee Ellis. Lily’s practice focuses on the human form. It is dramatically beautiful and full of energy and movement. Lee is a portrait painter, known for his dark and dynamic faces. Heavily abstracted, bold and emotional. Both artists have been extremely busy with their creative practices throughout lock down, and we’re so pleased to be able to show their new work in the gallery.
Lily Macrae
Way back when the year was young, we opened our show reel with Lily Macrae. And what a response. The show pretty much sold out within the month (only 1 painting remains). So it’s great to be able to add new pieces into her gallery collection. With a handful of study drawings and oil blends on paper alongside her newest painting, ‘The Watcher’. We’ll let Lily’s words do the talking from here…
“Re-imagining stories to highlight their power, beauty, and often absurdity and exploring how they play a role in a contemporary narrative, I want to hint to each works ancestry, and question our ineluctable relationship with the past. Learning from the diagonal schemes of composition, filled with figures and climactic movement. I draw from elements of old masters paintings, drawing the viewer into a vortex of drama and action which they can then step back from and disentangle” – Lily Macrae.
Lee Ellis
Working from his home studio throughout lock down, Lee has been busy painting and drawing, exploring new themes and styles. His latest series of work, ‘Paintings With Titles’ features his usual mix of heavily abstracted portraits and figures. They are raw and intriguing. His portraits are pushed beyond recognition; thick layers of paint are mixed, pulled and scraped across the surface of each canvas. And elongated figures, whose own faces appear to be drifting between states, gaze out from the paintings in a curiously quizzical manner.
There are 3 collections to enjoy – ‘I Do My Own Make Up’, ‘If Only I Did Watercolours’ and ‘The World Watches You Eat A Sandwich’ (always nice to see his titles as they hint to a lighter and more humorous side of his personality).
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