"Out of Nowhere" is a Visual Feast at the Royal Cornwall Museum

Written by Frederick Manning Friday, 21 October 2011 01:19

TRURO in Cornwall, UK - Walking into the "Out of Nowhere" exhibition that has just opened at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro is like treating yourself to a visual feast. Known as triptychs, huge paintings across three large canvasses adorn much of the wall space – some of them brightly coloured and all featuring intricate details that demand a closer look.  Artist Noel Betowski has lived in Cornwall since 1987 and the inspiration he draws from his surroundings is implicit in his works, some of which, he says, took as much as two months each, working twelve hours a day, to produce. It’s not hard to see why looking at the myriad of details of his large painting.

“I have a rough idea of what I want to achieve when I start a painting but my original ideas develop and change in the process,” said Noel. “I haven’t seen the triptychs hanging together before and must admit to feeling overwhelmed. The museum has done a brilliant job and the gallery is wonderful.”

It is the first time that Noel has exhibited in the museum but he has enjoyed considerable success since graduating from Central (now St Martin’s) School of Art in 1976. He has been a professional painter since the mid 1980s, exhibiting extensively at galleries including the Royal Academy and the National Portrait Gallery, and his works appear in numerous private collections throughout the world.

The idea for Out of Nowhere was initially derived from a lino-print entitled Emerging Geometry that Noel created in 1973 and the drawing of a fence he did whilst living at Muswell Hill, London, in 1980. Combining those approaches with the inspiration he continues to derive from his much-loved West Cornwall home and his lifelong passion for music, he has come up with a show that is both geometric and strangely mystical in its appeal.

The Royal Cornwall Museum holds collections of Cornish and European archaeology and social history, as well as world cultures. The fine and decorative art collections  hold work by Cornish artists, designers and makers but also contain significant works by nationally and internationally important artists from other parts of the world. The geology. and flora and fauna of the South West of England are represented in the geological and biological collections and are complemented by UK and world material. Visit : http://www.royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk/

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