August Art

Friday night at the Grant Bradley Gallery saw the opening of the August exhibition of Bristol painters.

A varied throng of guests circulated, their trip around the walls accompanied by gentle music from a trio ensemble using traditional instruments such as the bass viol.

I took a clockwise route, coming first to Simon Hopkinson's art. Drinking in the seedy, almost voyeuristic portrayal of Bristol's underbelly I discovered there is a raw urban beauty to be found on the lonely platform on Temple Meads, a flash of life on Feeder Road and his portrayal of angels in graveyards gives the observer a delicious shiver of fear that the angels may, at any moment, spring to life.

Skirting behind the musicians I moved to Scott Buchanan Barden's bird's eye views of Totterdown. His cityscapes are bright and compelling, but his use of impasto paint plastered thickly on the roof tiles renders them so tantalisingly tactile it is all a passer-by can do not to reach out and touch the art.

The gallery also has an impressive display of books, cards, gifts and jewellery which distracted me for a while. I also tried hard to ignore the array of delectable cakes for sale on my way to Bill Moore's intricately drawn outlines framing city life. The detail in the paintings transfixes the eye and I had to wiggle through the crowd to view the contrasting architecture present in ancient and modern aspects of a city.

Abigail McDougall's Bristol has a sense of movement visible in many of her works: her wind bent trees, shifting clouds and shadows come to life as you observe the detail in each of her pieces.

As it was a hot evening, I was already wilting before climbing up to the gallery to see John Garland's work. The muted shades, as if viewing through gauze, were worth the climb, framed visions of landscapes and urbanisation both evocative and starkly familiar.

A most enjoyable visit.