THREE years on from his last solo exhibition, Sayle Gallery artist Chris Powles is exhibiting 30 watercolours in the atmospheric show Seeking Solitude.
These works reflect a search for places away from the bustle and noise of modern society, and where Chris discovered that the landscapes transmitted their own ambience.
Chris, who has lived in the Isle of Man since 1975, has always felt an affinity with the island’s dramatic landscapes.
‘I intend these paintings to convey a sense of history,’ he explained.
‘All the landscapes have their own atmospheres, as if the deeds of the past have been permanently scored into them and although there are no figures in my paintings, I hope I leave the viewer aware that man has passed through the landscape at some time, leaving an impression which is revealed in my work.’
Although many of the paintings appear, at first glance, to be solely landscapes, closer examination reveals alternative surreal forms.
‘The images reveal themselves only gradually,’ said Chris.
‘Some of the elements are strongly stated, but others rely on the viewer’s imagination and interpretation so I hope that visitors to Seeking Solitude are able to spend some time looking at the paintings to engage with and discover the detail, as one might in the actual landscapes.’
Chris’s work has been selected for the prestigious Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition, four times (in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2012).
And although his 2012 work, Ramsey Pier, To The North, is currently being exhibited as part of the Sunday Times competition in the UK, the 2011 finalist, Industrial Carcass and two other shortlisted works will be on display as part of the Seeking Solitude exhibition.
The exhibition, which is free, continues until Sunday, November 11.
The Sayle Gallery is in the Villa Marina Colonnade in Douglas and is open on Mondays, 1pm – 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm, and Sundays, 1.30pm – 4.30pm.
Visit www.saylegallery.com or call 674557 for more details.
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