A group exhibition of works by Karl Benjamin, Martyn Brewster, Mark Eisen, Albert Gleizes, Roberto Matta, Robert Motherwell, Arnold Newman, Terry O’Neill, Edward Povey, Jon Schueler
In 1972, the critic John Berger wrote that "seeing comes before words." His book Ways of Seeing changed how we think about looking at art. This exhibition borrows his title, and his question: how do we really see the world, and how do artists change the way we see it? Ten artists answer it in their own ways, across more than a century of painting, sculpture, and photography.
It starts with Albert Gleizes, a pioneer of Cubism, who broke objects and spaces into overlapping planes so they could be seen from many angles at once. Roberto Matta took us inward, painting dreamlike, cosmic spaces that map the mind. Karl Benjamin reduced vision to pure colour and crisp geometry. Motherwell sought to free color and line from description, using simple means to express profound emotion. Jon Schueler and Martyn Brewster turned sky, sea and landscape into bold, emotional abstraction. Edward Povey created a style dedicated to exploring the raw complexities of the human experience, memory, and psychological vulnerability. Mark Eisen's polished sculptures reflect the viewer's back, so we become part of the work. Through the camera, Arnold Newman and Terry O'Neill show us the person behind the public face. Newman placed his sitters in the spaces that defined them. O'Neill captured the stars of his era with unguarded honesty. Together, these artists invite you to slow down, look again, and, in Berger's spirit, find new ways of seeing