Light Pollution
Chris Daniels, James Ryan
8th May - 7th June 2008
Rod Barton Invites, EC2

Rod Barton Invites is pleased to present the work of Chris Daniels and James Ryan. The assemblage of the artist’s abstract works within the transient space in which they are exhibited challenges each other creating a visual chaos reflective of their subject matter.

Using autonomous minimalist form and line Chris Daniels depicts colour that invokes visual unease. Daniels utilises the palette of his environment from courier vans to shop windows that are then transformed into minimalist parallel lines. Through considerable exploration Daniels believes to have found the best range with which to cause visual unease – an angle that lies between 48-52 degrees which disallows the pleasantry of symmetry and results in “optical disappointments” that can only be acclimatised by a viewer over time.

James Ryan’s work centres around a deep interest in the geometry and emotional ambience of the urban environment. In creating geometric paintings, Ryan applies architectural techniques of representation that vary in their format and execution to deconstruct the world around us. In this show, Ryan has used the grid pattern from chequered fabric as ready-made graph paper. Employing isometric perspectives, the paintings are created through the free overlaying of abstract plains, creating simple architectural structures with an in-built sense of uncertainty and vulnerability.