Chromatic: Cristea Roberts Gallery

The Cristea Roberts Gallery will unveil a major new body of etchings and monoprints by Ian Davenport (b.1966) which explore complex arrangements of colours inspired by changing seasons and quotidian light effects. Davenport, who is well known for his abstract paintings, which consist of carefully poured lines that puddle downwards, has built up an impressive body of graphic work over the past fifteen years. Experimentation, improvisation and chance, which are explored in this new exhibition, Chromatic (9 January – 8 February 2020) are a vital part of Davenport’s creative process.

Large etchings entitled, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, 2019, are made in Davenport’s signature technique of vertical lines cascading down into rich pools of colour. The prints, which are abstract interpretations of the four seasons, are shown together with another series of prints entitled Diagonals. Davenport explores the dynamic sequences of colour that have been applied diagonally instead of vertically, so that the printed marks pool and coalesce in one corner of the composition. The prints are composed of colours that reflect the phases of daylight, from morning and midday to twilight and evening. A related body of twelve monoprints, using the same image, is named after the hours of the day. Each one investigates the dynamic interaction of colour, fading and changing between full and half-light. 

For the second part of the exhibition Davenport switches to a different format that explores the complex arrangements of marks and patterns made when colour is splattered, rather than poured, onto paper. Short jets of colour are squirted onto white, silver and red backgrounds to create large-scale unique works on paper. These explosions of colour, which include Red Crackle, 2019, Fuse, 2018 and Cold Fall, 2018, will be exhibited together with related screenprints.

Davenport, who remains one of the youngest ever nominees for the Turner Prize, has had over fifty solo shows across Europe and the USA, most recently at Dallas Contemporary, Texas, 2018. He has completed major commissions around the world, including a large scale video projection with W1 Curates, on Oxford Street, London 2019, and a monumental painting entitled Giardini Colorfall, 2017, commissioned by Swatch for the 2017 Venice Biennale.

Davenport’s work is held in important museum collections including Arts Council of Great Britain; Tate, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; National Museum Wales, Cardiff; Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal; Museum of Modern Art, La Spezia; Borusan Art Gallery, Istanbul; Museum of Modern Art, New York and Dallas Museum of Art, Texas.

Cristea Roberts Gallery are the exclusive worldwide representatives for Davenport’s original prints.

Above text and images courtesy of Cristea Roberts Gallery.