Ralph Stanton: Looking for the Light 2023

Content from UpNext.com.au. Please don't scrape website.

This exhibition is a continuation of Ralph Stanton's last show There's a Crack in Everything (after Leonard Cohen). These works are a bit more subtle. There's no obvious crack or rupture in the surface or the picture plane, it's more like layers of light, glowing through an opaque landscape. It's more nuanced. It reflects an underlying feeling Ralph has that the light we seek is ephemeral, it appears from behind, from the sides, from above, from below, indirect, yet luminous.

The light is integrated and inherent, rather than something that might be more directly stated. Illumination not via a lightning strike, but rather a glow. He's interested in the patterns of light as they play out on the texture of the paint's surface. The painting becomes like a piece of jewellery, an artefact in itself without the need for illustration or to tell a story.

Ralph's work might be categorized as Abstract Expressionism but aims to be subtle and feeling-based. He is interested in the realisation of beauty. Collectors of his work have responded to it aesthetically and emotionally.

Since moving to Sydney in 2016, Ralph has held two solo exhibitions; Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay in 2018, and Disorder Gallery East Sydney in 2021 (online), and has been part of numerous group exhibitions through Sydney, including The Wellington Gallery, Stella Downer Fine Art, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery with Square One Studios, SQ1 in Darlinghurst, and Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown. Prior to his move, Ralph exhibited regularly since 1994, mainly in WA.

Ralph has a Diploma of Art (Fine Arts) (Claremont WA), Grad Dip TP (UC London), and Bachelor of Architecture (Melbourne). The architecture qualification at Melbourne University gave him an essential Bauhaus approach to art and practice - invaluable in his later Art Diploma. He has previously conducted his own practice in architecture and town planning in WA.

• 2-13 August 2023, Wed-Sun 10am-5pm

• Opening event: Saturday 5 August, 4-6pm

• Frances Keevil at Studio W6 Bourke StreetWOOLLOOMOOLOO NSW