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. IWAN LEWIS
[GALLERY] * [BOOKS] * [LINKS] * [PREVIOUS] * [NEXT]Iwan Lewis was born in 1980 in Bangor/North Wales. By 1996 he studied Fine Art at Bangor College of Further Education and in 1999 he aquired the GNVQ in Art. From 1999 to 2002 he attended a degree course in Fine Art at University of Wales Institute Cardiff (BAhons.). He has a studio outside Caernarfon, but has moved to London temporarily.
Iwan has a fresh and primitive look influenced by both adult experiences and childhood memories. He says:"I approach my painting with heavy line work, which often penetrates the paint, leaving a strong sense of texture". This technique gives a sculptural identity allowing Lewis' paintings to be bold and prominent. Although sophisticated, they also contain a great deal of homour.
Artist's statement: "Childhood memories and adult experiences have powerful influences in my work. In contrast to this, works that consider adulthood contain more diversity in subject matter, sometimes awkward happenings of adult life. With these paintings I allow myself to play with the titles in contrast to the images leaving metaphors for the viewer to pick up on. Since leaving college, I have aimed to discover a looser and more eloquent way of painting. Previously, my work was less expressive and more analytical of classical paintings. By combining oil paint with household gloss the painting process naturally speeds up, allowing a more enegetic way of working to occur. I am utilising the properties of gloss to communicate a stillness and almost plastic quality within the figures, whilst still maintaining a traditional understanding of rituals inherent in painting. I still maintain a passion for great paintings but have obtained a sense of self-identity within my practise. By using cartoon-like characters in front of either patterned or isolated backgrounds I am allowing the day-to-day scenarios to become far more quirky and sordid. This approach allows me to maintain a cynical humour towards our struggles with love and general desire for an 'ideal life'. The figures deal with personal views on social, moral and political issues.
A comment by the selectors at the 2006 National Eisteddfod:" ...the unique and memorable paintings of Iwan Lewis are recognised for their wonderous imagination, skilful charm and for a heart warming humanity which exemplifies a strong element within the exhibition as a whole".
Karen MacKinnon comments: “…Lewis’s strange, funny and captivating paintings – they stay with you and won’t let you go”
Awards: 2006 prize winner in Fine Art at the National Eisteddfod in Swansea.
Exhibitions to date: 2002 New Art / Oriel Washington Gallery, Penarth (mixed); 2003 Clean Slate / Tactile Bosch Gallery, Cardiff (mixed); 2004 Oriel Washington Gallery, Penarth (first solo); 2006 New Art / Oriel Washington Gallery, Penarth (mixed); 2006 The Shaman Project II, Bilbao, Spain (mixed); 2007 at Madame Lillies artist-run sculptors workshop (first solo show in London).