Adam Neate’s much anticipated solo show “A New Understanding” opened last night at Elms Lesters Painting Rooms and AM went along to see just where Adam’s new direction had taken him. After revealing to us in our recent interview that he’d been through some troubled times during the creation of this work, we were pleased to see him in good spirits happily chatting to fans and collectors whilst signing an almost endless stream of books and posters.
His classic and recognizable self portrait profile made multiple appearances through the body of work, which ranged between heavily mixed media pieces – wall mounted framed sculptures installations, paint on canvas, and a digitally enhanced sculpture (consisting of a piece of shaped steel forming a head profile and digital photo frames revolving images of Neate’s eye and mouth to complete the portrait).
Textures, layers and dimensions were the order of the day with Neate using a variety of materials including some beguiling use of manipulated Perspex in sculptures and his creation of “4-Dimensional” pieces involving paint being applied to 4 layers of clear acrylic – each spaced and stacked in front of the next to create a wondrous depth within the work.
The evolution of Neate’s work was a treat to see – we’d urge you to beg, steal or borrow to find a way of seeing this show in person, but if you can’t make it, you can check out our pictures from the opening after the jump.
Elms Lesters published a new book to accompany the exhibition in an edition of 1000. We picked up a copy, and it is a beautiful document of the show. If you missed the opening, Adam will be signing copies of the book and posters at the gallery on Saturday from 11am to 1pm.
Elms Lesters generously donated one of the posters signed by Adam for Arrested Motion to give away to our readers. Just leave a comment on this post or on the show thread of the Artchival Forum before the sun comes up in the UK on Wednesday morning, and we will pick a winner at random.
Pictures by Sven. For additional pictures you can also check out S.Butterfly’s Flickr set.
