Prospect brings together three distinct bodies of work,
each connected by the artist’s engagement with the processes of collage,
drawing and mixed media. Alongside a display of unique artists books and
Bytautas' recognisable complex constructivist drawings and assemblages, the
exhibition also includes a series of collaged works conceived as aids (or
props) for online technical demonstrations during the Coronavirus lockdown. Developed using
readily available materials, such as packaging & cereal cartons, for
Bytautas ‘this simple strategy helped to reinforce the playful element in
making the work.’
As suggested by the exhibition’s title – Prospect – Bytautas’ work celebrates finding creative solutions through play and a willingness to embrace unplanned results. ‘Collage encourages an irrational approach to image making; to welcoming chance and celebrating accidents as sources of inspiration. My works are rarely made as pure collage’ he says. As combinations of painting and drawing, painted and printed paper, the ever-present grid structure in the works operates as a structural tool for exploring any number of things from mathematical progression to colour contrasts. ‘Although complex images can result from the use of layering techniques’ he concludes ‘it is the fundamental simplicity and immediacy of collage that still really appeals to me.'
Alfons Bytautas is a Scottish painter & printmaker, now based in Newcastle upon Tyne. He is an elected member of the Royal Scottish Academy and was a master printer at Edinburgh Printmakers for 30 years. Alfons is a Senior Technician in the Department of Arts at Northumbria University.
Prospect is the first exhibition in Gallery North’s Autumn season of exhibitions curated around the theme of Constructions.
Thursdays and Fridays 12 – 4, Saturday 10 – 2 and by appointment.
Contact: Matthew.j.hearn@northumbria.ac.uk
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