Ivan Green is an artist who has developed a revolutionary method of print making which results in works both richly textured and hauntingly atmospheric. As a celebration of the Olympic Games, Dadbrook Gallery is showing all his prints, including his London series. Clico Kingsbury, the gallery director tells me: “We wanted to mark the occasion in an original way and Ivan’s work is a perfect choice. He depicts some of London’s best known buildings in London but re-interprets them in an astonishingly creative way.”
Ivan’s method is to note his initial feelings and thoughts on site and then research to understand the vision of the original architects or sculptors, aiming to create a resonance of mind and spirit. The final image is a palimpsest with layers worked and re-worked in a montage of growing locational information. Like much great art of the past, his works reward the viewer’s close scrutiny: Tower Bridge, St Pauls (pictured), Westminster Abbey, Horseguards and others all take on new and sometimes startling additions which draw attention not just to the original structures and forms but also ask us to reconsider them thoroughly.
As these limited edition prints are the creative re-interpretations of some of the finest buildings and sculptures in the Cities of London and Westminster, Green challenges us to re-assess the familiar and to engage with his vision of our capital.
Dadbrook Gallery will be showing his complete works to date, which also include Stowe and Aylesbury. Ivan is currently working on images of Oxford for the 2013 Oxford Almanak. Previous artists for this annual almanac, produced by the OUP include Turner and John Piper. His work is collected by many institutions including the Ashmolean. Prices start from £295.
Ivan Green’s limited edition prints will be shown at the Dadbrook Gallery from Saturday until July 29, daily 10am to 5pm.
Dadbrook Gallery, Dadbrook House, Cuddington, Bucks, HP18 0AG. Tel: 01844 292459 or 07776 201 062 (www.dadbrookgallery.co.uk ).