Jason Martin - Day Paintings

Drawing from Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, Martin’s works stand somewhere between painting and sculpture. Using layers of oil or acrylic gel on hard reflective stainless steel, aluminium or Perspex, he fashions comb-like pieces of metal or board to move the paint across the surface in one movement, often repeating it again and again until the perfect balance of paint, translucence and striation is achieved. Like Pollock or De Kooning, there is emphasis on the physical action of painting; the propulsion of the artist through his work is palpable, described by critic Nick Hackworth as "a single balletic mark-making movement, a visible trace of physical movement through space".

In Day Paintings Martin presents a study of light as it changes throughout the day. Beginning with Atlas, he interprets the cool, ethereal beauty of first light, following it with a series of paintings, as it finally dissolves into "moonrise".

Some works in this exhibition will be a departure from his earlier action paintings as he begins to rationalise the geometry of the panel itself. These works are more deliberate and pre-meditated with a direct figurative source. Although abstract on one level, his work embraces nature and realism on the assumption that the origins of abstraction stem from naturalism.

Lisson Gallery is pleased to also be presenting the first comprehensive catalogue of work by the artist to be launched in conjunction with this exhibition. The book is published by Charta, with text by Andrew Renton and a foreword by Norman Rosenthal. Pressetext

Jason Martin - Day Paintings