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Sculptor Mark
Croxfords latest solo show, simply titled Mark Croxford,
takes in the obsessions and explorations of the last six years,
ranging from the forests of Estonia which the artist visits each
summer to his drawings on glass first shown as part of the previous
Transition show Scritch
Scratch. Croxfords passion for materials and their
handling reveals itself in the depth and thoughtfulness in the execution
of each of the pieces, setting off the deceptively simple subject
matter that is drawn from the artists life.
The show is made
up of a series of recent works that lead the visitor through the
gallery space, inviting a narrative interpretation the large
wall-mounted abstracts that hint at industrial scale building plans
introduce a log cabin that doesnt so much recall a specific
place but more a displaced memory. Alongside this a large drawing
on glass is scratched out of red oxide with objects that have meant
and continue to resonate with meaning: the empty house in the woods,
games from childhood, holidays away.
On a formal level
the show questions the relationship between the sculptural line
in space and the line on the page: lines that define edges while
adding colour, tone and light and lines that are themselves simply
edges.
While the show has a strong sense of timelessness in its rejection
of the fashionable and faddish, it also recalls a time, both historical
and individual that pre-dates the split between what might be called
gallery art and the vernacular. As Mark Croxford says
"In the show theres no dividing line between folk art
and high art"
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