Julian continuously develops new ways to perceive the world through his artworks. He celebrates shape and colour, which he uses to influence the viewers’ perception of their surroundings, skillfully transforming and reimaging architecture into eye-catching compositions.
This exhibition (available until 7 Mar 21) is a celebration of architecture that has been lost. Perhaps the original reason it was made has disappeared, as is the case of the remaining coal bridges. Or perhaps a building is simply off the beaten track, as is the case of Papplewick church).
Julian says, "I wanted to document these lost built structures that were so much a part of my childhood. I grew up in Kirkby in Ashfield in the 1970s, playing in the woods of ‘the Warren’ and the ‘Quarries’. We used to see the spoil heaps of the collieries in the distance and dodge the trucks as they scraped topsoil. 40 years later the industry has gone, the spoil heaps are now country parks and the railway lines removed, transformed into pleasant walking trails. Dotted along them as reminders of that industrial past are numerous disused bridges, monuments to the industrial history of the area and nostalgic symbols of my youth. The structures are magnificently and solidly built. from brick and iron, often daubed in graffiti; forgotten and left behind."
An online preview of the exhibition is now available at www.harleygallery.co.uk. The exhibition is scheduled to take place until March 2021 in The Harley Gallery but is dependent on the latest Government guidelines surrounding Covid-19. Please keep an eye on the Gallery’s Facebook page for all the latest updates.
“I enjoy making paintings in a variety of different ways and you will see a range of approaches to the depiction of my subjects that accentuate the qualities I find.”
Julian was featured in issue 4, May/June 2018, Made - you can read the full feature for free on: www.madeinn.co.uk
