Solo exhibitions and review
ExhibitionsSolo Shows
1996 Mill Arts Centre, Banbury
1998 Lanchester Gallery, Coventry University
1999 Prima Restaurant and Gallery, Huntingdon
1999 Loft Theatre Gallery, Leamington Spa
2001 Library Gallery, University of Warwick
2001 Upton House Gallery, Poole
2002 Community Arts Gallery, Leamington Spa
2003 Millsie’s Gallery, Earlsdon, Coventry
2004 Library Gallery, University of Warwick
2005 Below Stairs at Boodles, Leamington Spa
2005 Artshole @ Rivington Street, Hoxton, London
2006 Library Gallery, University of Warwick
2007 LOVE STORY film at Emporium, Bath
2008 Cyan Arts, St. Nicholas Market, Bristol.
www.myspace.com/cyanarts
REVIEW : Gravitas and Gravity
The Library Gallery, University of Warwick 2006
Rafferty’s sense of irony is revealed in the titles of his paintings and in the naming of this exhibition Gravitas and Gravity. Whereas some artist’s work might be described as having gravitas in terms of subject matter and treatment, this description does not seem to fit Rafferty’s paintings. Solemn and dignified are not adjectives that would immediately come to mind in describing his work. Nor is gravity applicable in the sense of something of extreme importance, although it certainly relates to the physical force that causes all of these paintings to look the way they do. This is not to say that Rafferty is not serious about what he does or that his work is devoid of important or interesting ideas. He is, and his paintings are, but I think he hesitates to take himself too seriously and prefers a sidelong, oblique look at life. To my mind this is just as effective, perhaps more so, than taking the more direct approach. Superficially, many of these paintings look quite conventional, but Rafferty’s eye for colour and sensitivity to the associative possibilities of colour remove these works far from the constraints of conventionality. In Allsorts for example, the movement of the colour stripes from left to right, from oranges through greys to dark blues, the narrowness of the stripes, the tonalities, contrasts and harmonies, add up to something much more complex and interesting than pure decoration, more than perhaps the throwaway matter of fact title, might suggest. Are we to take the title literally, or are we dealing with purposeful irony? As is so often with this artist, his titles provoke us to question our own responses to his work. On the other hand, the soft pastel greens, yellows and pinks of Tutti-Frutti seem to stand for just what the title suggests, a delicious confection of flavours and colours. Within this piece are delicious colour combinations, soft yellows, creams and greens as well as subtle compositional variances. Much of the work in this exhibition gently reminds, revisits, suggests and introduces the manner in which the many aspects of colour can play on our eyes, perceptions and associations. The ironic and beguiling nature of the titles for some of these works, which seem to reveal as much as they conceal, is no better exemplified than in the beautiful colours of Wish you were Lovely.
From this it is clear that Rafferty obtains pleasure from the process of making, of discovering, as if for the first time new colour combinations and how they can unlock memories. But in addition to this there is an inquisitive, restless, if not an anarchistic streak that delights in breaking the rules and flouting conventions. Earlier work by Rafferty in the SNAFU series of the late 1990s further illustrates this artist’s interrogative relationship with his work.
This trait can be seen in Losing the Thread in which the stripes of colour become wayward and ill disciplined. They veer sideways and cross one another, become entangled like ribbons in the wind. This is not complete anarchy of course, just insubordination, gently kept under control. In the aptly named Make up your Mind the potential for disorder and chaos using painting techniques that Pollock exploited to such great effect is taken on board; the abstract doodles of dripped lines, splodges and pools of colour, although subtly manipulated to a degree, still display a wilful independence.
Beaucoup de Parfums was, I suspect, the outcome of one such dalliance with relative anarchy. The background is a rich chaos of vibrant yellows, oranges and reds overlaid by a series of generally incomplete, fragmented stripes in more sombre hues, dark blues, greys and occasionally warmer colours, that partially merge with the background colour. The result is a particularly rich and vibrant painting, which bursts with barely controlled energy. Rafferty experiments further in paintings that open up intriguing possibilities. In And then Again he dilutes the paint to the point where it forms an almost transparent veil of colour and combines this with a discrete area of fine dribbled paint to form a contrasting network of lines. One of the most successful images is Approximately Fifty. From a distance it resembles a multi-coloured striped curtain. The various combinations of colours are unusual, they seem to fit no particular sequence or pattern, no logical ordering, yet they work emphatically well together. Rafferty employs the free drip/pour technique in a thin band suggestive of a pelmet at the very top of the canvas. It ought not to work, but from a distance it does.
Nick Smale
Artspace. No.25: October 2006