Galería Casar, Alicante
24th September - 25th October 1993
Solo exhibition, 21 paintings shown
El Punto de las Artes
Espacios en la retina de Paul Critchley
Areas of space in the retina of Paul Critchley
Selecting his angle of vision, Paul Critchley (Britain, 1960) focuses on a stereotypical scene and then infuses it with life in the lens of his eye. He brings together perspectives of corners, perceptions of light and the idealisation of geographical realities to achieve his aim of transforming a place into a personal statement. And then he refuses to be bound by functional shapes and conventional forms which might destroy the impact of his work. What he does is to focus the attention and single out that element by means of which rational time is suspended and the true magic of the place and its architecture is allowed to shine forth. Paul Critchley attended St. Helens College of Art and Design before going to Coventry Polytechnic (B.A. Hons., Fine Art 1979 - 82). And then, his academic studies completed, he went ahead - seeking, experimenting and discovering.
The early stages of his career were marked by prizes and scholarships and also by collective exhibitions in Manchester and London, before he left for France. His first individual exhibition took place in 1987 in Hilden, Germany where he had lived and painted for a time before going on to Holland, France and Italy, finally settling in Spain two years ago.
This year he won a prize in the X Premio Nacional de Pintura <Villa de Teulada>.
The exhibition being presented in Galería Casar , Alicante is by no means just an introductory sample of things to come; it is a consummate demonstration of artistic skills and imaginative ideas combined to produce abstracts which make use of shape to get to the soul of a place; vision of the highest order; and to this plain and simple description we must add the play of light, the formal harmonies and finally the tones which bring out the poetry which is all pervasive. Not landscape painting but rather a testimony unfettered by the dictates of conventionalism. Exercising his free spirit Critchley breaks the accepted rules, goes from two-dimensional to three-dimensional and delights in the moment, captured by the angle of vision of his own enchantment. Like scenes viewed through a keyhole by a prying eye; like flashes of light which multiply the tonal possibilities so that reality is transcended and the heart-beat quickens.
Desde el ángulo de su visión, Paul Critchley, británico nacido en 1960, capta improntas que él aviva en su cristalino. Son perspectivas de un rincón, percepciones de luces, idealización de una realidad geográfica que encuadra en su intención para hacer del sitio argumento íntimo. De ahí que no se someta a marcos funcionales ni a maneras de un convencionalismo que fuerza cualquier impacto. Lo suyo es fijar la atención y centrar lo que afecta para que el tiempo de razón a tenor de un alumbre que deja traslucir la magia que el espacio encierra incluida arquitectura. Paul Critchley se formó en el St. Helens College of Art and Design, de donde pasó al Coventry Polytechnic (Bellas Artes) entre 1978 - 1982. Y después de su período académico, siguió la búsqueda, la experimentación y el encuentro.
Su primer estadio estuvo animado por premios y becas; también por colectivas en Manchester y Londres, con salida a Francia. Su primea individual data de 1987, en Hilden, Alemania, país donde ha vivido y ha pintado, y de donde pasó a Holanda, Francia e Italia hasta fijar su residencia, hace dos años, en España.
Este año fue galardonado en el X Premio Nacional de Pintura <Villa de Teulada>
La exposición que presenta en la Galería Casar, de Alicante, es algo más que una tarjeta de visita que anuncia; se trata de una demonstación en regla de capacidades y de conceptos, las calidades de unas abstracciones que se sirve de la figura para allegarse al alma de un rincón, de una visión que eleva a categoría; y esa descripción lisa y llana que, con el ejercicio de la luz, con acordes formales deja que los tonos manifiesten la poética que todo lo impregna. Se trata de un testimonio más que de una plasmación pasajística y, por supuesto, fuera de obligados encajes. Critchley, ejerciendo su libre albedrio, rompe formas regulares, va de la bidimensión a la tridimensión y hace goce del instante captado poe el ángulo de su propio encantamiento. Como visiones por el ojo de una cerradura, por las posibilidades tonales y hacen que la realidad trascienda y el ánima se palpe.
24 - 30.9.1993
Información
P. Escanero De Miguel
Paul Critchley - La Presencia de Altea en su obra
Paul Critchley - The presence of Altea in his work
Paul Critchley, British by birth, arrived in Altea almost two years ago. He had already been moving around from one country to another; Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Why now Spain, Why Altea? Marañón says that a man goes where he has to, guided simply by instinct, to a large extent he is right, it is also true that a man tries a thousand and one times before he finds what he is looking for, if he ever does.
What attracts me so much about his work is its extraordinary originality, it is truly startling. I first saw it just after he had arrived in Altea and he has continued along the same line since. One gets the impression that this young Englishman has been so captivated by our land, our air, our streets, that the purest Spanish traditions now flows from his paint brushes. The process of assimilation is like a flash of lightening. Altea has been transferred to canvas with absolute fidelity. Paul Critchley's oils have no frames, they come in irregular shapes, which seem to play whimsical games with the viewer. His streets become narrower before our eyes, as if to imprison us within them; his white walls of vibrant limewash stand out under a sky of intense dazzling blue, the respectable tiled roofs seem to be whispering to us tales of a thousand and one nights; precisely because they conceal part of this mystery where the empty streets call out for the presence of the great absentee - man. Within this extraordinary luminosity there is a true feeling of emptiness and solitude; the street itself is the leading actor. The painter relishes what we sometimes discard as valueless.
Paul Critchley, británico de nacimiento, llegó a Altea hace casi dos años. Llevaba ya tiemp deambulando por varios países, Alemania, Francia, Holanda, Italia, ¿por qué ahora España, por qué Altea? Marañón dice que el hombre va a donde debe ir, simplemente porque sí, por instinto, aunque tiene gran parte de razón, también es verdad que el hombre prueba una y mil veces hasta que da con lo que busca, si lo encuentra.
Me llamó mucha la atención su obra por su extraordinaria originalidad, es francamente impactante. La vi por primera vez cuando estaba recién llegado a Altea, y se mantiene hoy dentro de la misma línea. Da la sensación de que este joven británico ha captado de tal manera nuestra tierra, nuestro aire, nuestras calles, que sus pinceles irradian las más puras tradiciones españolas. El proceso de asimilación es corto y fulgurante. Altea ha sido llevada al lienzo con verdadero acierto. Paul Critchley nos presenta sus óleos libres de molduras, de formas sin forma, que juegan un poco a la manera barroca con el espectador, sus calles se estrechan ante nuestros ojos pareciendo estar prisioneros en ellas, sus paredes blancas de viva cal, destacan bajo un cielo de un azul intenso deslumbrante, los tejados dignos nos susurran casi cuentos de las mil y una noches, precisamente porque ocultan parte de ese misterio donde en sus calles vacías, se reclama la presencia de ese gran ausente que es el hombre. Hay dentro de esa extraordinaria luminosidad una gran sensación de vacío, de soledad y es que la calle es la verdadera protagonista. Este artista devora lo que a veces nosotros desechamos.
11.11.1993
Costa Blanca News
Denise Walsh
"... and when did you last see your father / a good exhibition?"
As the lager lout season draws to a close and the British press take a well earned rest from running down its fellow countrymen, let us spare a thought for the millions of decent British citizens who travel abroad every year, without wrecking their hotel or hospitalizing a local waiter or two.
British residents abroad, in Spain at least, fare no better. From what I hear, the recent ill-fated television series Eldorado portrayed them as a bunch of alcoholic layabouts who wouldn't know a Picasso from a Pimento. So there you are - visiting yobbos and resident morons! If that kind of treatment was meted out to Blacks, Arabs, Pakistanis, Jews or - God forbid - the Irish, think what an outcry there would be. From the British, not even a whimper.
How many of you, for example, were present at the Teulada Casa de Cultura last April to applaud British painter Paul Critchley, when he was awarded second prize in a competition which attracted over 100 entries from painters of all nationalities who live and work in the area. First prize was won by a Valencian and the third by a German painter. There were plenty of Germans, but then they do have a great sense of national pride! But you can flock to Casar, Galeria de Arte in Alicante, where Paul is presenting a one-man show.
But then i haven't told you anything about the paintings. Well don't worry. You won't have to stand around trying to make intelligent remarks while you gaze at random blobs and streaks. No, what you will see are the streets of an old Spanish town, painted as they have never been painted before. So realistic that you feel you are walking in the shadow of the ancient houses, you breath the atmosphere, your hand reaches out to touch a crumbling wall; you wonder who will be coming around the corner or who has just left the over hanging balcony above. And the balconies do actually overhang. How? That you will have to see for yourselves.
So what are we talking about? Good old fashioned traditional paintings? Nothing could be further from the truth for these paintings are not square or rectangular as we were brought up to believe paintings had to be. The shape is determined by the subject matter: a narrow street becomes a narrow painting, skies are curved. Some pictures are wider at the top than the bottom. There is the fantastic 3D effect. Some of the pictures are in fact 3D, part painting part sculpture, but all give a marvellous impression of depth. No. Not traditional nor old-fashioned but completely original. In the future, no doubt, others will try to copy his techniques. But for the moment, nobody paints like Paul Critchley.
17.9.1993
Composition of fantasy and reality. A stroll through the streets of Paul Critchley
If you like to dream away while strolling through the picturesque streets of a Spanish village, or if you enjoy the cosy atmosphere that - it seems - will never be lost, join us on a journey through the world of Paul Critchley, the person behind the works of art that will be exhibited from 24 September to 25 October at Galeria Casar in Alicante.
Who is Paul Critchley?
Paul Critchley was born in 1960 in the English town of Rainford. After finishing his studies at St Helens College of Art & Design and Coventry Polytechnic Department of Fine Arts, he decided to "go out into the world". His first stop was in Berlin in 1985. He did not stay long, however, because despite the fact, that he attended the ‘folk’ university to learn the German language, he found it difficult to get in touch with people.
A Frenchman he had met in Germany helped him get a new residential address near Montpellier, here he stayed six months. Then he got the itch again and wanted to move on, again his choice fell on Germany, this time, however, on the German/Dutch border, where he could live with school friends in Mönchengladbach. But lo and behold: with the weekly stream of Germans visiting the Limburg town of Venlo, to "billig einkaufen" Paul ended up here. The English artist, who by now was known for not being able to stay long in one place, was beckoned to adventure again, he moved to Venlo.
Of course, Paul had never been idle, and many of his works had already been created. In Venlo, too, he found his inspiration very close to home. Or rather: at home! He painted from head to toe, from the basement to the attic, in a house that he shared with several people (the house was rented out to lodgers). The house was large and consisted of many little rooms, bay windows and a huge staircase, when he finished the painting job with the "last corners", it was once again time to move on.
Since a good friend of the Critchley family owns a house in Spain, namely in Callosa d'Ensarria, Paul decided to take a look here. This was two years ago, since then the artist has only moved once, however, he has remained in the area and currently lives in Altea.
Above the rooftops of Altea ...
It is a fact that Paul Critchley is fixated on his nearby living environment. In the Netherlands, for example, he fixated on indoor architecture (perhaps too many rainy days), in Callosa and Altea, however, he fixated on outdoor architecture.
In his current home that overlooks the roofs of the old village houses, Paul has his studio. The walls in the living room are decorated with real Critchley's, which stand out for their distinctive design, wrong, yet good use of perspective and beautiful colour composition.
Before Paul starts painting, he first makes one or more sketches, he works from his feelings, which is very apparent in his work, the streets are not so narrow and high in reality, and the houses are not so narrow and high, but that's how it feels! The frame, around which the linen is stretched, is part of the painting, which can run from wide to narrow. For example, the outline may consist of the silhouette of two houses in the foreground, cut out. Between these two houses, one looks into the street. Once the linen is stretched over the frame, painting can begin. Here, Paul works with different materials. He paints the background with oil paint. The objects in the foreground are completed with plaster to create a relief. Because perspective is used in a different way than one is normally used to, a spatial effect is created, which can be confusing. Confusing but exciting! It is reminiscent of Escher's artworks. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, an exhibition will be held from 24 September to 25 October next at Galeria Casar, Maestro Marques 4 in Alicante. The opening will take place on Friday 24 September, starting at 20:30.