Written by trainee Gallery Assistants Christina W, Claire W and Grant O with assistance from Christina’s helper Theresa, OT student Dominique and staff member Megan.
There are 23 paintings in the exhibition, made using paint that still looks wet. They are made with acrylic, emulsion, oil, resin and glitter. Some are very shiny and some are very colourful. They are all different sizes and they are hung on different angles.
Christina says the room looks ‘quite nice’.
Claire likes how the paintings are displayed. She says ‘they’re not straight – it’s different – we’ve never seen paintings hung like that before’. She says they are not like paintings that she would do – they are different.
The paintings make Grant happy, Claire looks at them and thinks ‘WOW’, and the bright colours make Christina feel happy. For the most part, Dominique enjoys it, but Megan finds it quite overwhelming.
Grant’s favourite is the black, grey and white painting – Claire likes this one too – she says it’s like ‘Looking into a whirlwind’
Christina likes the one with white circles in front of a coloured background ‘because it’s got black and white bits and it’s a bit shiny.’
Dominique likes the blue and white painting on the far end wall, ‘it looks like a sea storm’.
Megan enjoys the red/orange and green splatter painting and also the bright orange shape on a dark blue background as those paintings use contrasting colours.
Grant thinks that the artist is happy when he paints. Christina says that when the artist is painting, he is only thinking about painting in his head. Claire thinks the artist ‘just goes wild’. Dominique says, you can tell that the artist enjoys what he does – and she imagines it’s quite therapeutic.
Theresa gives the exhibition 9/10. She says, she finds the exhibition impressive, as every painting is so different- the artist has so many different ideas and not everyone has ideas like that.
Christina gives the exhibition 5/10 and says it’s quite good. Claire also gives the exhibition 5/10 and says it’s average. Megan also give the exhibition 5/10, amongst the many paintings, there are a couple of highlights for her and she admires Barrie’s spirit in trying something different with the display.
Dominique gives the exhibition 7/10 and says although she doesn’t want to own one of the pictures, she might be inspired to create her own version.
Grant gives the exhibition 11/10 and says it’s the best he’s ever seen.
Barrie Strawson’s exhibition is open at Level Best Gallery until Friday 28th March.
