Western Morning News (Saturday)
When the sea’s beauty and power is seconds away
Frank Ruhrmund views Steven Platt’s ‘celebration of the ignored’, or ‘finite realism’
For close on a century, since the chalets were first introduced there in the 1920s, the Riviere Towans with its views of St Ives Bay and the Hayle Estuary has been one of the links in the chain of Towans that make up the acclaimed and hugely popular three miles of golden sand at Hayle.
Steven Platt, who grew up in the town, recalls the hours he spent exploring its environment often finding himself amid the sand and chalets of the Riviere Towans – hours that have inspired the pictures that make up his exhibition Before the Sea in the Studio Gallery, within the Penwith Gallery in St Ives.
One who loved both design and art when a youngster, he attended Mount’s Bay Secondary School and later Coventry University, where in the late 1990s he gained a BA (Hons) degree in transport design, and has since pursued a successful career in the motor industry with such concerns as Citroen, General Motors and Aston Martin Lagonda.
A specialist in interior car design, he says: “I feel increasingly lucky to have been involved in many exciting projects, bringing my initial sketches to life whether for a production concept or a film car.” Each of the chalets at the Riviere Towans is different, and each has a story but, as he says: “I began these pictures with an open mind. The collection is varied. I let the paintings guide me rather than the other way round. The chalets are the last structures you encounter before being presented with the panoramic seascape that is St Ives Bay, and I wanted to express a vision at the moment before you arrive at the seascape. How can a seascape be portrayed moments before you actually get to it fully?”
While attempting to find an answer he admits to having been
drawn to certain types of chalets... “Those that have been extended and modified slowly over the years with exteriors coated with hardy render from a time when this would have been the most practical option for this often harsh environment.”
He finds the texture created by this render, and the detailed weathering over the years, fascinating. “In a number of these paintings I decided to zoom right in, just as if you were passing by a chalet to get to the sea. I used almost two dimensional views on the sea from the chalets, the architectural lines created a graphic quality to the compositions, and everyday details such as UPVC doors and windows, gutters, drainpipes, outdoor taps and hose pipes, have all been used to help create them. I wanted the seascape, the focal point, to be totally obscured by the bold honesty of the chalet, only visible through the door or window or just the side of the chalet. The texture of the render becomes the predominant surface on the painting, the colours and shadows create a beauty from the practicality, the shadows become nature’s graffiti.”
He has also looked at other view points in his quest: “View points that pull away from focusing on one particular chalet. The moment where the full beauty and power of the sea is just a few seconds away but still just tantalising is visible in the composition. Approaching the sea you are often confronted with the backs of the chalets and the evidence of the life within them. My later paintings here are a celebration of the ignored, or finite realism, all of which express an honest reflection of which we all experience, whether we notice it or not.”
As diverting as they are different, thought-provoking paintings that both please and puzzle, by a painter who, considering his career background, might be said to be in overdrive, his exhibition is a formula one winner. Not to be missed, it can be seen online until April 12, and then in person when the Studio Gallery within the Penwith Gallery, St Ives, reopens, until April 17.