5 – 26 October 2024
Study for the Kowhai Project 2024 Flashe acrylic and charcoal on Sennelier 300gsm watercolour paper 660 x 550mm (paper size).
From the early 1980s John Bailey has pursued a rigorous abstract practice that has at times confounded critics and reviewers with its dedication to a kind of Zen like cool. A style that is akin to the ‘cool’ say of Miles Davis, Chet Baker, or John Coltrane. Bailey’s paintings are almost musically formed in that they are sinuous, sensuous, smokey, they inhabit a contemplative space, and invite us to enjoy them in a turntable, rather than Spotify way.
John Bailey has exhibited since the late 1970s and has occupied a unique space largely uncontested within the sphere of New Zealand art. Across his career he has continued to develop, to show, to keep on the move but never to stray from the path. As Miles Davis famously said, “Sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself”. In Bailey’s art one is always aware that the vital component is not what more can go in, but what can be left out. Like Chet Baker said, “The best thing is to stay cool – just be choosy and wait for the right opportunity”.
Curvatures Blue Yellow 2024 Flashe acrylic and charcoal on Sennelier 300gsm watercolour paper 750 x 560mm (paper size).
Fo information about these and a complete list of works in this exhibition, please drop us a line.