STEWART GEDDES | Letting String Fall

CLOSE Gallery is proud to present Letting String Fall, a series of recent improvised paintings embedded in the experience of the City by artist Stewart Geddes. The title of the exhibition alludes to the condition of apparent arbitrariness that improvisation embraces, and draws in ideas connected to poetry and the irrationality and absurdity associated with Dadaism. 

Geddes characterises a fascination with varying views of learning that weave into a visual poetry combined with a straightforward celebration of making. The pieces spin and rotate, revolve and layer in front of our eyes and there is movement within the restriction of the canvas. The question of where tension happens between colour and mark? How does the paint dance and twist with gesture or the physicality of the brush stroke? Like the city of Bristol in which they were created, they evolve through a practical building out of necessity to act, in this case painting. 

‘My attraction to abstraction emerged from a transition from perspective to Cubist spatial frameworks.  In this form one ‘negotiates’ with a painting, making decisions about its organisation as much as its representations. Now, the organisation is at the fore.’

Despite their intended autonomy, for Geddes the paintings link to broader concerns and the histories of Landscape Painting. He has maintained his studio in Bristol across his career and for him the city plays a pivotal role in the work. He cites early career experiences of visiting Patrick Heron at his house ‘Eagles Nest’ and a private collection of Peter Lanyon’s work as formative to his own practice.

‘Bristol is a city of demarcations- between urban and pastoral, city and sea. The penetration of nature into its urban centre is one of its chief characteristics, and I think, in turn, permeates my work.’ 

Geddes begins with a palette and through this, activates the surface of the canvas using a meandering, linear gesture placed in relation to amorphous drops of paint.  After this initial foray there follows a pause, a period of reflection when the painting is set to one side before the next move is decided.  The painting evolves until a (hesitant) resolution comes into view.

‘Although I think of my paintings as self-generated and independent of reference, I acknowledge they possess a sort of reversed relationship with content.  That is, they’re not motivated by an underpinning reference, but I recognise things beyond the studio are drawn into the work - most typically some form of relationship with land, or sometimes, a denser room space.’

Geddes works in clusters of paintings, allowing ideas to overlap and move between works.  The tactic enables surprising and inventive ideas to emerge. ‘Letting String Fall’ showcases a group of works from the last 24 months.