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Axisweb, the online contemporary art resource, selects the North’s most promising new artists.
Vestiges of staring eyes, body parts and flesh peep through the gestural swirls of Iain Andrews’s vibrant impasto paintings. Inspired by imagery as wide ranging as old master paintings and Tolkien, and from the harrowing stories he has encountered as an art psychotherapist, Andrews reworks and transforms these original sources, layer upon layer, until the border between figuration and abstraction becomes blurred, and the painting process takes over.
“It is vital that pictures are not sedatives, but are capable of awakening feelings”
Andrews, a Manchester-based artist who has exhibited internationally, has attracted the attention of critics, curators and collectors. His work is intentionally provocative: “It is vital that pictures are not sedatives, but are capable of evoking sensation and awakening feelings… I want my works to be sensuously addictive, worldly and material,” he says. On looking at his paintings, Andrews wants us to think about the relationship between the spiritual (or immaterial) and the sensual or bodily. He provokes this thought process through painting “high art” narrative themes with sensuous, painterly marks.
The artist is about to open a new solo show – called Re-view – at Castlefield Gallery; it’s a chance to see the paintings that have won Andrews national acclaim, such as being shortlisted for the prestigious Jerwood Drawing Prize and winning, in 2011, the intriguing Marmite Prize. These are works that are vivid, disturbing and layered – and are well worth viewing and re-viewing.
The world of art and exhibitions never quite stops, so we have lots of new shows to look forward to at the start of 2023.
From local writing to international talent, we have heaps of online launches and in real life readings not to mention some extra special festival events coming our way in live literature land.
We preview the standout classical music events and venues in Manchester and the north.
Start 2023 as you mean to go on, with the best restaurants and bars in Manchester and the North.
New years are for new experiences, and we have a whole lot of ideas to inspire you as 2023 gets underway.