A
s a British artist working for many years in the south of France: GORDON SEWARD is a firm believer in the beauty of pure pigments. Still life; Everyday intimate scenes; Urban compositions; Classic themes revisited; Gordon Seward’s oil paintings are composed with bold brush strokes and dazzling colours, and are as instinctive as they are endlessly creative. Into the oil paint often applied directly from the tube, he adds unexpected elements - plastics, porcelain or sequins etc. - that play with the light and surprise the eye.
Far from being decorative elements they are the result of his ongoing courageous searching for an art where painting can still be spectacular and deeply emotional without being superficial or vulgar. Within the freedom of his work there is a smile for the world and the grace and audacity of one confident in his art. Admired and recognised by collectors and galleries throughout France and internationally, the artwork of Gordon SEWARD, immediately draws into the joy of serious contemporary oil painting. “I start each painting as if I had been blind and have just recovered my vision. There are no preliminary drawings or decisions, I just burst onto the canvas. My painting is instinctive though I am a meditative person. The joy of painting is to extract primal beauty; And when I have it in my hand, I lay it out as boldly and brightly as I can. A successful painting has an overwhelming sense of abandon and creative courage, exactly as in a poem or a piece of music, an echo of that place beyond our limited imaginations. “My work has changed a lot over the years, even everyday. Its not having a style that is important, that will take care of itself with time and work. Most important is to create real emotion everyday, using line and colour and the adrenaline they inspire. “I use oil paint as to me it represents the relay between generations of painters and more importantly it suits me! I paint my life having taken out the dividing line between painting and living. I am not a painter who says - OK dear, I’m off to the studio, back at 6.30. I paint, cook, paint, wash up, paint, watch a film, chat, paint; no difference. Art is a state of mind, I never leave it (like love I think). “I take a lot of photos in sepia, always with paintings in mind. Things that happen, friends, compositions that seem interesting born of the day to day. My wife is central, I paint her a lot. More and more I am approaching new themes, ones that seem treacherous or unsuited to my style; However, a sense of ridicule is an artist’s best guide. Cave art fixed the fact that painting is a part of man. Art and war. In 20, 200 or 2000 years time, will people find some positive vibration and a little of their own humanity in my work? I only hope so.”
Gordon Seward
*
From top clockwise - Baigneuse (The Bather) - Diptych. oil and mixed elements on canvas 170 x 88cm - Honfleur - oil and mixed elements on canvas 65 x 50cm - La Brasserie - oil and mixed elements on canvas 65 x 54cm - La Malienne - oil and mixed elements on canvas 100 x 150cm
www.theheraultandaudetimes.com
The HAT September 2014.indd 31
31
01/09/2014 04:25:00