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| Ray Atkins on show in Halifax | Ray Atkins on show in Halifax |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Ray Atkins lived in Cornwall for over two decades, but based himself inland, away from the tourist honey-pots on the coast. And it was industrial Cornwall that appealed to him – tin mines and scrapyards, even a rubbish dump, as much as coastal views. The faintly industrial feel to the Crossley Gallery at Halifax's huge Dean Clough complex suits Atkins' work especially well. | Ray Atkins lived in Cornwall for over two decades, but based himself inland, away from the tourist honey-pots on the coast. And it was industrial Cornwall that appealed to him – tin mines and scrapyards, even a rubbish dump, as much as coastal views. The faintly industrial feel to the Crossley Gallery at Halifax's huge Dean Clough complex suits Atkins' work especially well. |
| Atkins was a pupil of Frank Auerbach's in the 1950s and had a solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1974. He also showed in Newlyn Society at Pont-Aven in Brittany, following in the footsteps of Gauguin, another artist with a love of vibrant colours. His work can be found in the British Museum, and in the Arts Council and British Council collections. | Atkins was a pupil of Frank Auerbach's in the 1950s and had a solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1974. He also showed in Newlyn Society at Pont-Aven in Brittany, following in the footsteps of Gauguin, another artist with a love of vibrant colours. His work can be found in the British Museum, and in the Arts Council and British Council collections. |
| He paints on a very large scale, using heavy boards which he coats thickly with paint. Quentin Crisp, who was a life model much painted by Atkins in the 1950s, remembered the paint splattering eveywhere: | He paints on a very large scale, using heavy boards which he coats thickly with paint. Quentin Crisp, who was a life model much painted by Atkins in the 1950s, remembered the paint splattering eveywhere: |
| the floor – squelch, squelch, squelch. | the floor – squelch, squelch, squelch. |
| He sets up his boards – sometimes up to 10 foot wide, and weighing a hundredweight – in the landscape he's painting, tethering the work to the ground with rocks and leaving them in situ for weeks at a time. Obviously this method leaves the work at the mercy of the elements and of vandals - indeed, one of his monumental works of the Thames at Millwall ended up floating downstream after his secret painting place was discovered by local vandals. | He sets up his boards – sometimes up to 10 foot wide, and weighing a hundredweight – in the landscape he's painting, tethering the work to the ground with rocks and leaving them in situ for weeks at a time. Obviously this method leaves the work at the mercy of the elements and of vandals - indeed, one of his monumental works of the Thames at Millwall ended up floating downstream after his secret painting place was discovered by local vandals. |
| As the critic William Feaver wrote of him: | As the critic William Feaver wrote of him: |
| There is no need to label Atkins 'heroic' in his persistence. The difficulties he makes for himself are essential to the outcome. Without them he would lack the resistance necessary for deep impetus. Painting on board rather than canvas gives him another sort of resistance. He dedicates himself to laborious cultivation; his is a kind of fieldcraft and makes him more the hunter-farmer than the painter of pleasing projects. | There is no need to label Atkins 'heroic' in his persistence. The difficulties he makes for himself are essential to the outcome. Without them he would lack the resistance necessary for deep impetus. Painting on board rather than canvas gives him another sort of resistance. He dedicates himself to laborious cultivation; his is a kind of fieldcraft and makes him more the hunter-farmer than the painter of pleasing projects. |
| The effects of tin mining gave Cornwall's Red River its name, and in his 8 foot wide Red River I of 2003 we see the Godrevy beach from high above, with tiny figures on the sand, blue-grey cliffs in the distance, a stretch of sea and a narrow band of skyline. Not far from the river is the South Crofty mine, one of Atkins' favourite subjects. Two large oils depict the tin mine, which has been worked since the 16th century. | The effects of tin mining gave Cornwall's Red River its name, and in his 8 foot wide Red River I of 2003 we see the Godrevy beach from high above, with tiny figures on the sand, blue-grey cliffs in the distance, a stretch of sea and a narrow band of skyline. Not far from the river is the South Crofty mine, one of Atkins' favourite subjects. Two large oils depict the tin mine, which has been worked since the 16th century. |
| An almost expressionistic love of exuberant colour is one of the things that makes Atkins' work stand out – in Pokeweed, 2011, for example, the predominant yellow is joined by a riot of blues, greens, oranges, russets and greys. It is hung next to South Crofty of September 1991, where the mine has almost been obliterated by colours, and where pure abstraction has almost – but not quite - taken over from representation. | An almost expressionistic love of exuberant colour is one of the things that makes Atkins' work stand out – in Pokeweed, 2011, for example, the predominant yellow is joined by a riot of blues, greens, oranges, russets and greys. It is hung next to South Crofty of September 1991, where the mine has almost been obliterated by colours, and where pure abstraction has almost – but not quite - taken over from representation. |
| About four years ago Ray Atkins left Cornwall for an isolated studio high up in the Pyrenees. Here he continues to paint in the landscape, a landscape that is frequently covered in snow. One thing the artist regrets in his new workplace is that there is no gorse for him to paint. The broom has a different blooming season and the yellow is not quite so intense – as Ray Atkins said slightly wistfully at the opening in Halifax at the weekend | About four years ago Ray Atkins left Cornwall for an isolated studio high up in the Pyrenees. Here he continues to paint in the landscape, a landscape that is frequently covered in snow. One thing the artist regrets in his new workplace is that there is no gorse for him to paint. The broom has a different blooming season and the yellow is not quite so intense – as Ray Atkins said slightly wistfully at the opening in Halifax at the weekend |
| in Cornwall I had my own tame gorse bush in my garden. | in Cornwall I had my own tame gorse bush in my garden. |
| The grandeur of the surrounding landscape must act as compensation. Rochers de Pène Nère et Pène Blanque shows two of the soaring high peaks that separate France and Spain, while Autumn Forest of 2010 shows that the colours of the Pyrenees can be at least as bright as Cornwall's. | The grandeur of the surrounding landscape must act as compensation. Rochers de Pène Nère et Pène Blanque shows two of the soaring high peaks that separate France and Spain, while Autumn Forest of 2010 shows that the colours of the Pyrenees can be at least as bright as Cornwall's. |
| Ray Atkins' The Long View: from Cornwall to the Pyrenees can be seen at the Crossley Gallery, Dean Clough, Halifax, until 14 January. | Ray Atkins' The Long View: from Cornwall to the Pyrenees can be seen at the Crossley Gallery, Dean Clough, Halifax, until 14 January. |
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