LONDON.- bo.lee gallery is presenting The Clearing, a group exhibition of selected works by Sue Arrowsmith, Paul Fry, Philippa Lawrence and David Nash in celebration of the gallery’s ten year anniversary.
Since opening in Bath in 2009, bo.lee has championed emerging and mid career artists alongside established names. At its core has always been an exploration of its relationship to the natural world, exhibiting artists that work with natural material and life cycles, with an appreciation for a sense of craft and of giving over to nature.
The exhibition alludes to the experience of chancing upon an open clearing while walking through a forest, presenting the opportunity to take stock of the journey thus far. The gallery would like to thank all of those who have supported the gallery along the way, from its foundation in Bath their move to the current South East London location on Rye Lane. From new ventures such as bo.lee editions, plans to expand bo.lee projects and exhibit further afield at fairs in Miami and Hong Kong, the galleru is excited to see what the next decade has in store for them and their artists.
Sue Arrowsmith’s work is rooted in the formal qualities of abstraction and temporality, refracted through the natural world. Her paintings are haikus to the world she observes on regular walks both in London and further afield. Highly detailed and meticulous, Arrowsmith’s work combines the human touch and the natural flow of her medium. She will create a site-specific work for The Clearing , painting directly onto the gallery window. Arrowsmith has exhibited widely in the UK and Europe since graduating from Goldsmiths College, London in 1990. She was a prize-winner in both the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 20 in 1997 and the Natwest Art Prize , London in 1998, and in 2010 was Artist in Residence at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Connecticut, USA. She lives and works in London.
Paul Fry finds his inspiration in sources such as poetry, sound, scent, and creates drawings, paintings and sculptures that explore mark making as a meditative process. Memory, rhythm and repetition are central themes to his practice. In his series The Edge of Silence , Fry obscures source material with layers of graphite dust; his new work will draw on How I go to the Woods , a poem by Mary Oliver. Fry lives and works in Cornwall, where he completed his BA at Falmouth in 2002. He has exhibited extensively in the UK.
Philippa Lawrence’s diverse practice embraces land and environmental art, the use of textiles in a fine art context, and the relationship between art, craft and design. Her work pivots on material exploration, drawing out a material’s ability to carry metaphor and speak of human experience. Lawrence trained in Fine Art Printmaking at Norwich School of Art and the Royal College of Art. She works on site-specific projects, commissions and exhibitions. She has exhibited widely both in the UK and internationaly.
David Nash is a Sculptor and Land Artist working primarily with wood that has fallen naturally or has been felled due to age, disease or safety. His sculptures are made using heavy equipment including chainsaws and blowtorches, morphing trees into unexpected shapes. Nash attended the Kingston College of Art and later the Chelsea School of Art. His work has been featured in the Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal, Gallery Lelong in Zürich, Sala de la Diputacion in Spain, Annely Juda Fine Art in London, and Kew Gardens in Queens. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1999, and was awarded an Order of the British Empire for services to the arts in 2004.
