Bernard Frize / Callum Innes

Bernard Frize chooses painting itself as the subject of his work. So-called external decisions, such as the choice of colour, the brush and the size of the canvas, are determined by a number of surprises and unplanned, unexpected, sensual experiences. Frize’s contribution consists of controlling chance, arranging colour with simple brush strokes, dragging or pouring the paint across the canvas. There is no image, no composition, no foreground or background, no previous mixing of colours. The act of painting is reduced to its most basic elements; they are facts consisting of canvas and paint. Frize’s paintings are intense and aesthetically pleasing while at the same time teaching us something about the act of painting and the idiosyncrasies of medium.

Callum Innes continuously re-examines the possibilities of abstract imagery. For him the painting is a place for thought, the kind of place where the slightest nuance and shift can make a great difference. The structure of Innes’ paintings carries something of the Renaissance Golden Section about it and the artist has, in a way, developed a single strategy for controlling his own experiment. Through the disposition of forms and particularly by means of a very precise selection of colour, he explores a wide range of emotional states without necessarily having consciously set out to do so. In their final form, Innes’ paintings declare themselves to be the result of all the process that has contributed to their production. In spite of their contemplative stillness, they are testaments of time and human activity.