Frank Barnes Merseyside, United Kingdom

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I am a painter based in Southport, Merseyside. I have exhibited across the U.K. and most recently in a solo retrospective exhibition at The Atkinson Art Gallery in Southport called ‘Colourfields’ February 2017. I am an associate member of Cross Street Arts in Standish, Wigan. I also work as Principal Examiner for GCSE Art , Craft and Design at AQA,

“It’s difficult to talk about colour as an “idea” in a rational way, yet nothing can compare with its infinite possibilities and the multiplicity of its possible meanings. A smudge, a smear, a stroke of colour can be any number of things depending on shape, transparency, density, scale and context etc. The setting and sources for my paintings originate from a simple vocabulary of motifs, symbols and signals which relate to events, locations and in particular memories. My paintings are comprised of non-descriptive brush marks and appear ‘abstract’, although the paintings have a definite subject. The images refer to people and surroundings without resorting to the creation of a literal likeness. I work from memory and use marks and colour to suggest the ideas and emotions connected to the subject. Other sources which inspire these particular paintings are varied including historical and ancient signs, symbols and motifs and mythologies. Early Renaissance paintings and modern and contemporary practitioners such as John Hoyland, Paul Gauguin, Howard Hodgkin, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Rae, Hans Hoffman, Alan Davie, Corneille and the COBRA group are indeed inspirations. The boundaries of what can be managed in a painting present a constant challenge to me and through a process of layering, cancellation and improvisation my intention is always to test such boundaries. I try to paint as automatically as possible. The paintings are intended as glancing episodes composed within illusionistic spaces. I work on custom made frame stretched 8oz unprimed cotton canvas. The unprimed canvas allows dichlorotriazine dyes to saturate and bleed into the working area. I work over the dyed canvas using brushes, knives, cloths and squeegees to manage layers of acrylic paint. It is a continuous process of ‘correction’. At different stages I add crushed sea shells to the paint to create heavier surfaces. The paintings are built in layers over a period of time. I like to work on several canvasses at the same time, often returning to a previous painting to affect change and absorb influence from another source. Most of my work is made in series and in different sizes.

Frank Barnes 2018