An abstract match
8 July 2010
When looking for fresh, inspirational art to see close to work in a lunch break I found the Signal Gallery in Curtain Road. Their current show, ‘A new life” by Dan Baldwin looks like the cool, energetic urban graffiti-pop-inspired art one is quite likely to come across on a Shoreditch wall, and now also in a Shoreditch gallery.
Baldwin’s style immediately reminded me of a painter I love – Fiona Rae, Royal Academian and contemporary abstract expressionist. Her canvases are equally lively, cool, and show an original approach to art in the 21st century.
Some similarities: Both painters studied Fine Art and Illustration in London, and each chooses to contrast flat areas of colour with detailed elements of text, figures and graphic elements. Their art portrays a real sense of fun, but both artists’ topics cover serious issues such as loss of innocence, life and death, love, politics, beauty and decay.
And their differences: Rae was born in Hong Kong, so a gracious brushstroke element can be found on most of her canvases. Rae purely paints her canvas using harmonic strokes and elements, in a dark and brooding palette, whilst Baldwin’s strokes explode on canvas, where he incorporates screenprinting alongside the layering of household paints, spraypaint and collage elements such as foreign currency, vintage war memorabilia and most recently, even razor blades. The urban male and female, deconstructed.
