Armonia

‘Armonia’ was an opportunity to present work in relation to the highly respected Italian sculptor Paolo Mayol. (Mayol has exhibited in major venues throughout Italy: Castel St Angelo Rome 2007, Palazzo Valentini 2010, American Embassy, Rome 2011 as well as undertaking major public commissions for the city of Ciampino, Rome and Milan airport.

Key Research interests: Concepts and processes are developed through an abstract painting language that have drawn from a variety of cultural research sources, the key ones being Sacred Art and Architecture in European Baroque, Islamic architecture of the Alhambra palace in Granada, Zen Buddhist ‘dry’ gardens and the temples of Kyoto, Japan. The artistic concerns can be identified and divided into three sections 1) Beauty; ornament and pleasure 2) Perception and interpretation: the ‘reading’ and interpretation of abstract pattern and design; the unlocking of rhythm and identification of figure/ground relationships, 3) Space and Light: Ineffable qualities created by colour – pigment and canvas.

The works primarily explore colour in a geometric structure of interlocking circles in order to ‘expose’ the inner rhythms and shifting figure/ground relationships that are ‘locked’ within the orchestration of these compositions.

‘Armonia’: Scuderie Aldobrandini museum, Frascati, Rome. ‘Exposing’ and ‘unlocking’ the forms and inner rhythms within the painting process are the key concepts in this exhibition for both artists, for Mayol this is realised in sculptural form and Lancaster through colour.

Each composition has a unique character revealing form, inner rhythm, light, harmony, energy and balance creating a pleasurable visual experience.

There are a variety of critical essay contributions in the exhibition catalogue from Italy and England. The key essay on Lancaster’s work is by Dr Richard Davey a research fellow at Nottingham Trent University. The writer’s creative and perceptive qualities provide a constructive and challenging environment in which to interrogate ideas and processes in relation to perception and interpretation.