John Croft CBE - Howard Jeffs RE - Edward Willis
Abstraction & Colour
2 June - 1 July
The geometric paintings in oil on canvas by John Croft can be enjoyed equally for their pure abstract qualities as for their vibrant interpretations of landscapes or seascapes. The latest linocut prints of Howard Jeffs are based on his fascination with the circle as a fixed and powerful shape. Within this shape he has created organic forms with a palette of colours which, although abstract, might also be found in the natural world.
Accompanying this exhibition is a collection of three-dimensional sculptures by Edward Willis. Elegant forms with sometimes bold colour, each piece is a study of ‘dynamic equilibrium’, carefully constructed from many parts.
John Croft, who has painted for more than seventy years, has always had an interest in abstract expressionists such as Nicholas de Stael and his own painting has become increasingly simplified in form. A postgraduate of Christ Church, Oxford, John Croft spent most of his career working for the Foreign Office before focusing on painting. He has exhibited in France, London, Suffolk and Bath and his work can be found in the collections of Oxford University, Cambridge University, London School of Economics, Manx Museum Isle of Man, Reform Club London and London Borough of Camden.
Howard Jeffs, a Member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers has recently shown work in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath and the Bankside Gallery in London. Trained at Chelsea School of Art during the 1960’s, Jeffs taught printmaking in The Department of Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London from 1972 to 2003 and completed an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts in the 1990s. An elected member of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers he regularly exhibits work at the Bankside Gallery, London. He exhibited landscape photography at the Photographers Gallery and The Serpentine Gallery in the early 1970s. Well-established nationally as a printmaker, he works at his studios in Bath and in France.
Exhibition 31