John Whiting
30
Drawings, Inks, Oils, Paintings, Pastels
11am-5pm the first four weekends in May
14 Bates Road, Brighton, BN1 6PG
01273 541852
email: jw@johnwhiting.co.uk
John is exhibiting with the Fiveways Artist Group at the Chateau de Bosmelet in Auffay, Normandy near Dieppe for the month of August. www.chateau-de-bosmelet.fr
Our 2010 open house exhibition at 14 Bates Road in May featured new work by John Whiting continuing his fascination with the sea and the city.
We were also pleased to welcome our guest artists:
Gabi Carr oil paintings with anthropomorphic connotations
Rosie Whiting abundant and creative jewellery and textiles.
Jacob Whiting experiments with digital photography.
Profile of John Whiting
John spent his childhood in Bexhill-on-Sea before studying architecture in London. His interest in painting and drawing buildings evolved over time to include landscapes and life studies.John works as an artist while still managing a busy career as an architect. Art and architecture have always been closely linked and in John’s work each discipline informs the other in a striking balance of rigour and expression.He has travelled extensively in Europe, USA and Asia and recently spent several years living in Hong Kong and Australia.In 1994 Hong Kong’s Wattis Fine Art Gallery staged a group show entitled ‘Figures’ where John showed his work for the first time. This was followed by further group shows ‘Windows to ‘95’ at the Wattis Gallery and ‘Life after work’ at the Hong Kong Fringe Club.The Fink Gallery in Sydney staged his first one man show ‘John Whiting—recent works on paper’ in December 1997 which included nudes and cityscapes.John has staged two open house exhibitions under the Brighton Festival umbrella as an independent artist before joining the Fiveways Artists Group in 2001.
Current work
His technical background is evident in his compositions which feature strong lines of perspective and architectural subjects. “Often the architecture forms a back drop to my paintings which are really more about capturing a sense of the experience rather than trying to make an accurate record of the image”. Extremes of weather and strong light are recurring themes in the paintings. “I’m trying to show how it felt to be lashed by the storm or washed over by the morning sunlight”.
Many of his subjects are based on familiar Brighton buildings and places, particularly the seafront. Seascapes have long held a fascination for John and they are well represented with a number of works in oil and pastel which seek to capture the ever changing moods of the pier and the promenade. “I am constantly returning to the seafront as a subject for my work”, explains John, “There’s always something new: the weather, the fading light, the howling wind! It’s different every time”.
John also continues to experiment and develop his life drawing, a discipline which influences much of his work. In addition many of his ink drawings on pages from sketch books will be exhibited demonstrating the initial stages of the artistic process. “It all starts with ink drawings in sketch books whether it’s a painting or a building design”.
