Halcyon Days, 2009 - oil on canvas, 50x50cm
Yesterday night I attended the opening of Cole Contemporary's latest exhibition, The Drifting Canvas. The group show of eight painters included my good friend and talented artist, Ellen Macdonald. Ellen and I met when we were both on exchange at The School of the Art Institute Chicago, since graduating from the Glasgow School of Art, which I was rather envious about - Glasgow alone is a cool city but the Art School is inspirational and a Mackintosh mecca - Ellen now lives and works in Berlin and it's been great to follow her career and see her every so often when she's in town. With every rendezvous I have the pleasure of seeing her new work and as always, Ellen never disappoints.Halcyon Days (2009) is a more minimal, abstract take on her previous body of work - the washed purple and blue strokes play backdrop to the powerful pink and golden structure in the foreground with its diamond form drawing you into the canvas. The exhibition's narrative explores the dominance of digital representation, such as CGI technology and computer effects which abstract painting has equally informed and been inspired by in both the pre- and present digital age.
Click here to view more of Ellen's fantastic work and I encourage everyone to pay at visit to Cole Contemporary at 3-4a Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JB - The Drifting Canvas runs until the 17th July 2010.
