PRESS RELEASE
Since studying at the Royal College of Art 1977 - 1980, John Monks has doggedly continued with the same preoccupations. He is engaged with the vital struggles that defined the School of London painters, Auerbach, Kossoff and Freud; essentially the process of observation and record - transformation of paint into light and form. Like a wrestler in the ring, there is an enthralling combination of aggression - threatening to over-run its channels - and deft skill. The surface carries the drama of creation: thick deposits from slashes of the palette knife, pooled glazes and thin washes that have run vertically and horizontally. These canvases have seen as much of the floor as of the easel. In his disregard for the breeze of fashion, John Monks has confined himself to his studio and worked relentlessly. Consequently, Artificial Light amounts to a portrait of the studio; of the artist's resolve to stay there until the canvases have been dealt with. These are studies of questioned potency, frustration and release. *************** John Monks studied at Liverpool School of Art and the RCA, 1977 - 80. He is represented by Peter Findlay Gallery in New York. His work is in the collections of: The Metropolitan Museum, Yale Centre for British Art, CAS, Arts Council of Great Britain, The V&A, Manchester City Art Galleries and Santa Barbara Museum, California. Please click here to view John Monks's paintings For further information please contact Sarah Long or Tom Juneau at the gallery, 020 7834 1434 or email longandryle@btconnect.com
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