South, London
Sholto Blissett
Life in Deep Time
Hannah BarryLife In Deep Time is the second solo exhibition by Sholto Blissett at Hannah Barry Gallery. An ambitious presentation of eleven new paintings, the exhibition marks a significant shift in the visual language and emotional tone of Blissett’s work as he turns his eye to a series of large-scale nocturnal and subterranean scenes. Continuing his exploration of the aesthetics of ‘Nature’ and how our contemporary moment challenges the ways in which we have historically chosen to understand our place in society and in the natural world, Life in Deep Time pushes Blissett’s work toward a new mystical dimension, drawing equally from prehistory to the unfathomable reach of the future. From the cool expanse of mountainous valleys to the immensity of tenebrous cave systems, illuminated by contrasting lustres of fire, ice and moonlight, together Blissett’s work explores the tenderness between natural architecture, ecological thought, human fantasy and celestial forms of light and visibility. Sholto Blissett (b. 1996, Salisbury, UK) paints highly detailed imaginary landscapes inhabited by a variety of topographical, riverine and architectural forms. Growing up in a small village surrounded by the ancient sites of Stonehenge and Avebury stone circle, Blissett has a long-standing interest in the fictions societies create to understand their place in nature. His work, achieved through soft acrylic washes and the meticulous application of oil, centres on our relationship to the aesthetics of “Nature” and how our contemporary moment challenges the ways in which we have historically chosen to understand our place within the natural world. Evoking principles of surrealism and romanticism alongside renaissance painting styles such as capriccio and veduta , Blissett’s work presents us with a view of nature that folds cultural constructions of wilderness and the sublime into uncanny, dreamlike visions of our contemporary moment.