'Overlooked' - drawn from the works of 5 contemporary Sheffield artists who all share a common interest in exploring the unseen and mundane. Focussing on marginal, liminal spaces that most people wouldn't give a second glance. Creating observational paintings that use landscape to create a narrative and emotional tension.

'Look beneath the surface, let not the several quality of a thing nor it's worth escape thee' - Marcus Aurelius

The Scottish Queen,
21-24 South Street, Park Hill, Sheffield, S2 5QX

Acknowledgements
The artists would very much like to thank:
Urban Splash (particularly Tom Bloxham and Mark Latham) who have generously provided the Scottish Queen for us to site our exhibition.
Leila Alexander (Art Consultant) for her invaluable input and advice
Andrew Mathews (Graphic Designer at Urban Splash)
Louise Hutchinson(Artistic Director) and Pippa Cook(Programme Coordinator) from S1 Artspace for their help and guidance in curating the show
Thornbridge Brewery for sponsoring our Preview Event
Paul Allender for his contribution to our catalogue
Ecclesall Print for the creation of the show brochure

Monday 16 March 2015

Sean Williams



Sean Williams

My paintings are views of the fringes of suburbia, places that feel as though they are familiar, but then escape our conditioned response.  I aim to place the viewer as still points of a turning world - alone, for a while, then possibly watched as they look on.  The scene switches between mundane and suggesting something may be about to happen.
I have been making paintings based on this premise for over two years.  These areas are much more interesting to me because there is an inherent mystery and, crucially for me, there is doubt.  There is uncertainty because they could claim to be both urban and rural, but are arguably neither fully urban nor rural.  There is an undecidability to this landscape.  We stand on the cusp of one thing or the other.
My intention is to depict generic scenes that could be anywhere in the country.  I take della Francesca’s ‘Ideal City’ as a suitable model for a painting with an almost inexplicable psychological weight, and seek to capture a similar atmosphere.  As soon as a place is definitively identified, by a familiar landmark for example, the work becomes about that specific place and the opportunity for viewers to create their own narratives is lost.  My painting technique has been described by artist & curator Robert Priseman as ‘contemporary pointillism’ and it is a deliberate attempt to acknowledge and, in part, evoke the spirit and social conscience of Camille Pissaro.
My creative process takes the form of walking around areas on the edge of conurbations – exploring with camera in hand, looking for things that may be slightly out of the ordinary, and which, by painting, I can draw attention to in the hope that they reveal something hitherto unsaid about contemporary existence.

Examples of Work -

 
Release,  
Acrylic on board, 30 x 40 cm
 
Guaranteed Pleasure,  
Acrylic on board, 60 x 90 cm
 
Lies About Nothing
Acrylic on board, 130 x 85 cm

Bio - Sean Williams was born in 1966 and is based in Sheffield.  Recent group exhibitions include ‘Contemporary British Painting’ at Huddersfield Art Gallery, ‘@PaintBritain’ at Ipswich Art School, and ‘Picturing Sheffield’ at the Millennium Galleries.

His paintings are views of the fringes of suburbia, places that feel as though they are familiar, but then escape our conditioned response.  The scene switches between mundane and suggesting something may be about to happen.

His painting technique has been described as ‘contemporary pointillism’ and is a deliberate attempt to acknowledge and evoke the spirit and social conscience of Camille Pissaro.

swseanwilliams@gmail.com
www.swseanwilliams.wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/SeanWilliams23/
0771 136 5221

No comments:

Post a Comment