Anthony Garratt
My artistic practice is diverse, but rooted in a passion for our relationship with the concept of ‘landscape’.
My most recent paintings are energetic, plastic and deliberately over-saturated fictions. They have, in part, evolved out of memories from recent travels but are mostly invented spaces that often include empty, modernist structures, sitting within energetic mark making.
Alongside these lively and colourful fictions sit paintings that are quieter, more meditative and organic in their approach. This contrast in style echoes a fascination with the idea of ‘contrast in landscape’ and the global polarity of our experiences in the landscape.
In an essay about my work from 2020, Kate Reeves-Edwards writes, ‘Indeed, the moody expanses, the dramatic chiaroscuro, and the saturated colour palette promote a dualism between the ominous and the exciting. His work quickens the heart rate and fills the viewer with a desire to get out there. Garratt changes his method and materials depending on the subject matter he is portraying.’
Much of my studio time is spent excited by the action of painting; finding marks and devices which are practiced and evolved before committing them to a more resolved solution. It is this experimentation that stimulates change in the work. You can view selected, recent paintings on my website at www.agarratt.com
My ‘other art hat’ is to conceive and produce large scale, self-initiated public artworks. The public installations are led by a particular subject and evolve out of a passion for collaboration and taking messages to an audience who can ‘encounter’ artwork outdoors. These projects not only inspire and alter my studio practice but also enable the opportunity to work across sectors I wouldn’t usually encounter or collaborate with.
I am currently working on a concept for a ‘floating’ exhibition of large, double sided paintings which switch sides on each tide, along the River Dart, and anticipate that this will launch in 2024. I am also continuing to place ‘Wild Words’, a project that scorches poems and quotes about natural recovery into grass, which subsequently grows and disappears in the following weeks.
You can read more about my installation projects on their associated websites:
