Works by Adrian Livesley

"Brilliant Trees"

Pictures from a Journey

Solo Exhibition Petley Jones Gallery November 19-December 3, 2009

From the image of Vincent Van Gogh trudging through farmer’s fields to Paul Gauguin painting the uncharted wilds of Polynesia, the idea of a travelling painter has long held a fascination for me. The notion of a weary artist, clothes encrusted with drying paint, easel strapped to his back, maybe one of art history’s venerable clichés, but it is nevertheless a delightful one.

During the last 15 years, I have travelled to places as diverse as Finland, Ireland, Cyprus, Mexico and rural British Columbia in order to paint from my surroundings. The main reason was to get away from the constraints of work, friends and family to enable the long hours needed to provide solitude and stimulate inspiration. I also wanted to be confronted with unfamiliar sights and sounds, while deliberately avoiding overly familiar or hackneyed subject matter. In Mexico, for example, I consciously eschewed any subject that was familiarly associated with the country, such as donkeys, Mariachis, churches and the like. Often, this would take me far away from popular areas with often surprising views and subject matter.

My approach to working from landscape has been the same, regardless of where I find myself. I am interested in finding vividly expressive forms and working them into a cohesive, final image. I don’t necessarily want to create a realistic representation, but rather something that encapsulates my feelings about the place and time. I want the paintings to come alive by working abstractly as well as from life. I like to see the pictures as quiet dramas: the objects, the colour and the spaces between objects providing the dialogue.

This is the modern world—that which is around me. But to simply hold a mirror up to it would deny the artist’s power to create. Albert Camus wrote that all art was an attempt to remake the world, giving it the style it generally lacks. In this way paintings become models; they express what cannot be put into words—the healthful, restorative rhythms and forces seen in nature.

Some believe the role of the artist is to make comments about society or to criticize. I have no desire to create negative art because I believe the great art of the past is both joyful and hopeful. My goal is to somehow communicate the intangible, inexplicable “inner life” of subjective experience—to somehow convey what it is to feel and be human.




	*"Brilliant Trees"* Pictures from a Journey Solo Exhibition Petley Jones Gallery November 19-December 3, 2009 From the image of Vincent Van Gogh trudging through farmer’s fields to Paul Gauguin painting the uncharted wilds of Polynesia, the idea of a travelling painter has long held a fascination for me. The notion of a weary artist, clothes encrusted with drying paint, easel strapped to his back, maybe one of art history’s venerable clichés, but it is nevertheless a delightful one. During the last 15 years, I have travelled to places as diverse as Finland, Ireland, Cyprus, Mexico and rural British Columbia in order to paint from my surroundings. The main reason was to get away from the constraints of work, friends and family to enable the long hours needed to provide solitude and stimulate inspiration. I also wanted to be confronted with unfamiliar sights and sounds, while deliberately avoiding overly familiar or hackneyed subject matter. In Mexico, for example, I consciously eschewed any subject that was familiarly associated with the country, such as donkeys, Mariachis, churches and the like. Often, this would take me far away from popular areas with often surprising views and subject matter. My approach to working from landscape has been the same, regardless of where I find myself. I am interested in finding vividly expressive forms and working them into a cohesive, final image. I don’t necessarily want to create a realistic representation, but rather something that encapsulates my feelings about the place and time. I want the paintings to come alive by working abstractly as well as from life. I like to see the pictures as quiet dramas: the objects, the colour and the spaces between objects providing the dialogue. This is the modern world—that which is around me. But to simply hold a mirror up to it would deny the artist’s power to create. Albert Camus wrote that all art was an attempt to remake the world, giving it the style it generally lacks. In this way paintings become models; they express what cannot be put into words—the healthful, restorative rhythms and forces seen in nature. Some believe the role of the artist is to make comments about society or to criticize. I have no desire to create negative art because I believe the great art of the past is both joyful and hopeful. My goal is to somehow communicate the intangible, inexplicable “inner life” of subjective experience—to somehow convey what it is to feel and be human.
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