Matteo Massagrande

United Kingdom

London

Pontone Gallery

Painting

La finestra di Freud

Olive trees, lavender, thyme

"...On the other hand the olive trees are very characteristic, and I’m struggling to capture that. It’s silver, sometimes more blue, sometimes greenish bronzed, whitening on ground that is yellow, pink, purplish or orangeish to dull red ochre. But very difficult, very difficult. But that suits me and attracts me to work fully in gold or silver."

From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Theo van Gogh
Location: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Date: Saturday 28 September 1889
806 | Br. 1990: 807 | CL: 608

"...Then the hills here, full of thyme and other aromatic plants, are very beautiful, and because of the clarity of the air one can see from the heights so much further than at home."

From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Anna van Gogh-Carbentus
Location: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Date: between Monday 8 and Friday 12 July 1889
788 | Br. 1990: 787 | CL: 598

Ulivi, lavanda, timo

Chris Rivers

Pontone Gallery is proud to present ‘Odyssey’, a new suite of paintings by Chris Rivers. His signature-style is much in evidence, typified by emphatically gestural handling, a sumptuous colour palette and a dramatic evocation of pictorial space.

This Was Once a Pretty Landscape 2

A classical heritage and deep knowledge of Renaissance masters informs Matteo Massagrande's practice. He has a profound understanding of perspective. These paintings are not directly-observed recordings of actual spaces, but composites, deliberately assembled from particular references. He manipulates the rules of perspective to introduce subtle distortions and exaggerations that heighten the psychological impact of these scenes.

Foschia al mattino

Riflessi sulla porta

Porte bianche

Amsterdam

"...Was at the early service this morning (Noorderkerk), afterwards walked around town a bit, the canals are especially beautiful now that the leaves on the trees have the colours of autumn, and then went to the English church."

From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Theo van Gogh
Location: Amsterdam
Date: Sunday 21 October 1877
132 | Br. 1990: 131 | CL: 111

Amsterdam

La porta blu del mare

Hwang Seontae

Korean artist Hwang Seontae makes lightboxes. Carefully crafted from sandblasted glass and discreet LED lamps, they depict contemporary, domestic interiors. These calm and ordered scenes are lit by windows which frame views of natural landscape. In contrast to the colour of the outdoors, these idealized, indoor spaces are monochromatic, formed from graphically-rendered line and flat, grey halftones. This is a rigidly controlled and measured vision of utopia.

Mixed Media

The Space with Sunshine

Born in 1983, Chris Rivers is a self taught artist from Manchester, England. A former professional rock drummer, Rivers began painting in 2014. His large and dramatic oil paintings are bold, abstract displays of charged colour and fine, surrealistic detail. 

Not everything is as it first seems in these worlds. Soft light filters through overlaying mists of complimentary tones, gradually swelling with dramatic saturated colour before receding into the image. Upon closer inspection, these clouds are populated by minute details; flowers, insects, figures and other characters scatter and interact across the painted surface, offering a sense of scale to the great haze of abstract colour.  Distinct rococo elements can also be detected, as curvilinear motifs fade in and out of the vibrant, bustling compositions.

Headspace 2

The grapevine in the orchard

"...Here in the garden, sheltered from the wind, 
Where no flower bloomed, all cabbage-beds and overhanging vines."

(excerpt from “La Sœur novice” by François Coppée, 1872)

From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Anthon van Rappard
Location: Nuenen
Date: on or about Sunday 2 March 1884
433 | Br. 1990: 435 | CL: R41

La vigna nell'orto

Limonaia

The courtyard of the lunatic asylum

"...A view of the garden of the asylum where I am, on the right a grey terrace, a section of house, some rosebushes that have lost their flowers; on the left, the earth of the garden — red ochre — earth burnt by the sun, covered in fallen pine twigs."

From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Emile Bernard
Location: Arles
Date: on or about Tuesday 26 November 1889
822 | Br. 1990: 824 | CL: B21

Il cortile del manicomio

A Landscape With Melting Stars

Lee Jeonglok

Lee Jeonglok makes mysterious and evocative images of strange and magical events. These happen in carefully chosen, personally significant landscapes, realised by a thorough mastery of photographic technique. The production of these pieces is a complex and painstaking process. These images are not made digitally, but by an 'in camera' technique. This means using long and multiple exposures, manipulating artificial light and deploying various props on site and in real time.

Photography

Iceland 06

A Figure in the Outer Woods

Fading Roses and the Bright Stars

Fragile Things

Holding Onto the Ghosts

This spring Pontone Gallery exhibits at the prestigious Expo Chicago art fair. The gallery showcases a selection of its international artists, who range across the fields of painting, photography and sculpture. Common to all is a deep immersion in and mastery of their chosen practice. These artists are concerned with making pieces that seduce and intrigue the eye. They deploy a profound and mature understanding of process to fully express their ideas.

Matteo Massagrande is a critically acclaimed Italian painter. He creates images of atmospheric architectural vistas and emotionally significant landscapes. Steeped in the classical tradition, he brings a great depth of art historical reference to his work. Second to none in his skilful use of representational technique, his pictures conjure up complex and compelling illusions of haunting spaces.

Korean sculptor, Hwang Seontae, makes lightboxes. Constructed from etched glass and concealed LED lighting, these are meticulously crafted images of still contemplation. We are shown crisply delineated and subtly illuminated scenes of domestic interiors. They have the quality of stage sets, ready for action, anticipating human presence.

Lee Jeonglok is a Korean artist who works with photography to make beautiful images of mystical events in elemental landscapes. An expert in the manipulation of his medium, he uses sophisticated time-lapse techniques and long exposures to stage dramatic and haunting interventions. In these new pieces this action takes place in the wild and sublime topography of Iceland.

Englishman Chris Rivers makes powerfully gestural oil paintings in a contemporary, Romantic idiom. His subjects range from the churning voids of outer space to lush and sumptuous flower still lifes. His flamboyant and expressive handling draws the viewer into an exciting world of turbulent expression.

Throughout April Pontone Gallery will be running a parallel exhibition featuring these artists at its new London space in Fitzrovia, minutes from Mayfair and the West End.

EXPO Chicago | EXPO London

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