Western Morning News (Saturday)
Expressive land and seascapes and strong, vibrant style
Frank Ruhrmund sees work by Jack Davis and Emma Williams at the Livingstone Gallery
Apainter whom Alicia Livingstone, director and curator of the Livingstone Gallery in St Ives, who is presenting Jack Davis’ solo show Elemental now being held in the historic Crypt Gallery in the town, as being “an outstanding artist who is now emerging as a leading land and seascape painter in Cornwall”, his pictures certainly impress and suggest she is accurate in her assessment of his abilities. One who is now based near St Just, and who studied fine art at Falmouth University, since his graduation from there a decade or so ago he has gained a considerable reputation and following for his immersive and expressive land and seascapes. Currently a tutor at the Newlyn School of Art, and a member of the St Ives Society of
Artists, he has exhibited both nationally and internationally from the UK to the USA and Australia, and has been the recipient of several awards. A fiercely independent artist who cheerfully goes his own way, talking about Elemental, he says, “I’ve been looking at the changing skies in the area, investigating the cyclical relationship between water and sky. I never work from photographs, and all that I do is done from direct observation and memory. I’ve attempted to paint the Penwith peninsula honestly without sentimentality or romanticization.” From Rhythm and Menacing to Endeavour and Enduring Light he has done just that and more.
To quote Alicia Livingstone again: “His paintings represent a new level of technical excellence and of emotional power. His paintings capture the true spirit of the huge variety of landscape to be found in North Cornwall, its weather and moods, the shifting light that has made the region magnetic to artists for centuries.”
Unmissable, Jack Davis’ Elemental can be seen in the Crypt Gallery until April 22, and then in the Livingstone Gallery itself, 71-73, Fore Street, St Ives, from April 23 to May 14.