Browse and Darby’s seventh solo exhibition of British painter Julian Bailey, featuring recent works in oil and gouache.
Born in Cheshire in 1963, Bailey trained first at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford and then at the Royal Academy Schools, London. His works abound with energy, often brightly coloured and depicting scenes of activity or movement. “I like to capture the way people do things,” he says. “The things that draw people together, the camaraderie – you feel drawn to it. In sports, with dancers, even with boats, there’s a synchrony.”
Vivienne Light says, “For Bailey, painting is about developing and furthering a distinctive visual language. Though remaining representational in the main, in his recent work there has been a noticeable strengthening of more abstract or structural elements. Scudding skies, once sweeping with billowing clouds, have been reduced to simple bands of colour or lost altogether; rows of bright shirts worn by gathering young folk have become blocks of colour laid out in strong horizontals; triangular sails have become elements of a more complex geometry.
With a strong sense of his own presence in his work, what Bailey gives us is a cornucopia of life, one in which he conveys a deep respect for his subject matter. Being true to himself and his art is for him a matter of conscience. It will keep him exploring humanity for a long time to come and for us will be a continuing source of inspiration and joy.”
