TWO ENGLISH ABSTRACT PAINTERS, BOTH OF WHOM SHOW WITH THE JILL GEORGE GALLERY, LONDON, MAKE UP THE RUBICON'S LATEST OFFERING. IN EX CHANGE, SOME OF THE RUBICON'S IRISH ARTISTS WILL BE SHOWING AT THE LONDON GALLERY. REBECCA SALTER IS THE MORE RIGOROUSLY ABSTRACT OF THE ENGLISH PAIR, BUT EVEN HER STRICT, GREY-TONED PICTURES CONTAIN A SENSE OF LANDSCAPE, OR AT LEAST A HINT OF GEOLOGY. THE PICTURES ARE DIPTYCHS, WITH TWO SECTIONS OF PAINTED and RESTRETCHED CANVAS OF DIFFERENT DEPTHS PUSHED FLUSH TOGETHER. ON THEIR SURFACES, TECTONIC RHYTHMS ARE AT WORK, WITH SMOOTH, TINY BUT UNSTOPPABLY POWERFUL UNDULATIONS FLOWING FROM ONE CANVAS TO THE NEXT. MARTYN BREWSTER'S INTEREST IN LANDSCAPE IS FAR MORE DIRECT THAN SALTER'S, EVEN IF HIS PICTURES TURN OUT TO BE HIGHLY ABSTRACTED ORCHESTRATIONS. ONE OIL ON CANVAS PIECE, BEAUTY & SADNESS, REPRESENTS BREWSTER'S REGULAR OUTPUT, BUT FOR THIS IRISH SHOW, THE PAINTER HAS CONCENTRATED ON A SERIES OF INTENSE MONOPRINTS.
LOWICK, THE CUMBRIAN TOWN IN WHICH THE PAINTER HAS BEEN WORKING, GIVES ITS NAME TO THE SERIES. IN DEEP, DEEP FRAMES, FIERCE CHARGES OF ORANGES, YELLOWS, BROWNS AND BLUES HOVER OVER A CENTRAL DARKNESS. THIS BLACKNESS SERVES, IN A FAUVE-LIKE MANNER, TO PUMP UP THE INTENSITY OF THE COLOURS UNTIL THE WORDS "ENGLISH" AND "LANDSCAPE" SEEM FINALLY ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE.
UNTIL SEPTEMBER 9TH.