Exhibiting as he approaches his 93rd birthday

Art Works by West Country artist Reginald James Lloyd go on show in Chichester’s Oxmarket Gallery ahead of his 93rd birthday this December.

The exhibition has been organised by his good friend Stephen Hargreaveswoodruff, of Partridge Green. It runs from October 1-6.

Stephen promises the show will offer something very special: “He catches… well, I wouldn’t say it was so much naivety, more that the figures are impersonal. They are paintings that are not quite full resolved. They are presences. They are not your every-day definitive figures, and you notice that the figures or the couples are always seen from behind.

“He or she or they are always slightly mysterious. There is a Stonehenge painting that I have got that was taken from behind.

The sun is blazing through Stonehenge, and you look at it again and you realise that the girl is staring straight into the sun. His works are striking, and I think they are important. And other people that have reviewed his work consider that it is important.

“I have known him for at least 25 years. Like most painters, he will paint until he drops.

“He said to me ‘I have not got a lot of time left’, and he said that to me when he was 64! But he had quite a debilitating stroke a few years ago and it took him a while to recover.

“But he is still painting, and he said to me four or five months ago that he wanted to have another exhibition and would I see if I could find somewhere. I got in touch with three or four galleries in the region. We came across the Oxmarket, and the thing about the Oxmarket is that it has got such a wide open spac and the building just allows the light in brilliantly.”

Sadly Reg won’t be able to get to the exhibition himself, but Stephen is delighted to support his friend and to keep his work before the public.

Art works will be for sale.