David Cobley shows at The Victoria Art Gallery

Friday, 12 October 2007 00:09

Bath, UK - David Cobley lives and works in Bath and is best known as an accomplished portrait painter. For this exhibition of new works he has broadened his usual range to include still lifes, landscapes and nudes, interpreted in a painterly style using a palette of rich colours. On exhibition from 6 October until 18 November.

Through his work David Cobley explores themes and variations, perhaps choosing two or three key forms which he then arranges and rearranges with subtle differences. Lighting, colour, shape and scale are all carefully considered, for the picture has to work as both a coherent design and a convincing illusion of space.

All Cobley’s work is informed by the human presence, whether overt or implied. It resonates from his models and self-portraits, as well as the personal objects that appear in his still lifes. His nude figures are much more than mere anatomy lessons: one can sense dramas and relationships being played out, things said and left unsaid, the interplay of thoughts and feelings.

The undercurrents are never explicit, however; they remain sufficiently open-ended to keep us guessing, bringing our imaginations into play or interweaving strands of our personal histories.

David Cobley is a Member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal West of England Academy and the New English Art Club. His portrait commissions include The Princess Royal, Steven Berkoff, Richard Briers, Sir Normal Fowler and Dame Alicia Markova. His portrait of Ken Dodd is in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The winner of many awards, he has had solo exhibitions at Beaux Arts in Bath and Messum's in London.

Visit The Victoria Art Gallery - open Tuesday - Saturday from 10am-5pm, Sundays 1.30-5pm and closed on Mondays.Entrance to all galleries is Free. Enquiries on 01225 477233/44 - website at www.victoriagal.org.uk