Neil Frazer: Snow, Rock, Sand (2010)

Neil Frazer has pioneered a method and style in his work which is unique – he uses abstract expressionist techniques, sculptor’s volume, and painter’s depth as components of the building process. A duality of spatial illusion and material literalness sits at the very heart of his masterful paintings and because of this they come to both describe and reveal.

He achieves the remarkable combination of pictorial realism, accuracy of belief and the unique specifics of place. It is as if each painting has been hewn and built from the fundamental essences and very materials of each place depicted, and so each work has profound physical substance, three-dimensionality and enormity of scale. There are sophisticated textural dialogues established through varied marks and a commanding use of impasto painting techniques. He uses negative space as a silhouette and implies the sky in this way.

This exhibition combines two distinct bodies of work – the Southern Alps and the seashore – and demonstrates that the artist moves completely convincingly from one to the other. Each work has individual characteristics and delivery – line of sight, for example, varies significantly – as Frazer establishes the fact and specifics of place with the fiction of paint.

In every work, Frazer traverses the pictorial traditions of landscape painting with techniques deeply informed by abstract painting techniques and in this manner he has completely reinvigorated it. It is no exaggeration to state that his vision and delivery is so convincingly stated and delivered as to be utterly unlike any other that has preceded it.

Event listed by Milford Galleries

View their other events or contact promoter