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**** stars

 

Hales gallery presents eclectic works by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, spanning 5 decades of the unsung pioneer of British abstract expressionism. A contemporary of the St Ives school of painting, the late artist was a prolific maker unconfined by style and technique who dedicated her life to obsessions with natural and elemental forms, frequently depicting rock formations, glaciers and landscapes. Though it's difficult in the current crisis climate and tech driven art ecology to recognise the importance of work that deals purely with colour and shape, on show are quiet works from a quieter world. A simple reminder of how powerfully a swathe of colour can dictate space and form.

 

The show is calmly hung, not chronologically but tonally, and bleeds through the room. It begins with the dark landscapes of La Geria, Lanzarote where grape vines grow from excavated cones in black volcanic soil. The northern wall is clad with cool, robust works, anchored by White Cone (1953) which sings the pure joy of solid, British mid-century abstraction. The opposing vista, a series of hot reds and oranges where volcanic lava  seemingly bubbles beneath surface. Jutting out is Autumn Landscape WASP (1958),  a small and mighty stinger: an acidic yellow set in deep purples and umbers which gives the painting power to fight against the larger works.

 

Paintings that seem to share intricate relationships are actually spaced 20 years apart, and works so disparate in style, for example the astute representation of Timanfaya Mt. Fuego (1989) vs the explosive Untitled (1992) are made during the same period: a testament to Barns-Graham’s rampant and continuous experimentation.

 

The exhibition in the silent windowless gallery, just seconds from the chaos of Shoreditch, feels like a contemplative bunker. A cerebral breather. A redirection to purer forms of human culture. The taming of the elements into digestible moments of thought.

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THE EVENING STANDARD

September 2025

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