Callum Innes

In 1995 Callum Innes was shortlisted for the Turner Prize and the Jerwood Prize for Painting. Over the last six years, Innes has become widely recognised for the original contribution he has made to the tradition of abstract painting. His work can be seen to link back to the work of the Minimalist painters. However, his interest is not in re-enacting this form of art but using certain characteristics of this tradition, especially the monochrome canvas, as a springboard for his own inventions.

His painting is typified by a process of reduction; he erodes a monochrome ground of paint with turpentine to reveal the spatial possibilities of the picture plane. He works in series, exploring the possibilities of a particular format or procedure until he has achieved a resolution that satisfies him. His work is based on intuition and experimentation.

A new series of large scale works on paper forms an added dimension to this exhibition. Painted on wax paper, these body-sized works choose a middle ground between the spare beauty of a minimal aesthetic and the gestural panache of abstraction.