Fergus Hare, New Works at New Arts Projects, Hackney, East London, March 2019

Cats aside, on we go, nothing much to report from the art shows explored on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday then, what did Thursday have to offer? Well Freya Douglas-Morris had a show opening at the rather understated Lychee One gallery that quietly nestles over in the fast changing hinterlands between London Fields and Mare Street, a very formal white cube of a space at the foot of one of those soulless Hackney new builds that have rather imposed themselves on the area. Freya Douglas-Morris has a solo show opening, apparently her paintings begin “somewhere between memory and alienation”. There’s an identity starting to emerge at Lychee One, the latest set of once again rather bold paintings follows on from the recent Grant Foster show rather well, once again lots of colour, there’s a poetry to these Freya Douglas-Morris, stories to discover, a narrative that flows along with the bright colour, almost an escape, a pleasure, childhood, wrong to say these painting are fun, they kind of are though.

Freya Douglas-Morris at Lychee One, Hackney, East London, March 2019

The thought of another Fergus Hare show at New Art Projects is genuinely exciting, Fergus is what you might call a very traditional artist, an almost refreshing prospect in these fractured times, his subtle studies of twilight, his feeling for Sussex and that particular light, the idea of being here at his opening tonight is far more inviting that the bombardment from The Other Art Fare and their various PR arms and marketing teams, feels like an escape from everything in here with the gentle light on the hills. You don’t notice that this time he’s been working in pastel at first, his landscapes are once again alive with tranquil space, with hazy atmosphere, with the beauty of horizon. Surely landscape pieces like this really shouldn’t be that exciting in 2019. The pastels seem even more refined than his oils (or is it just his work evolving? It isn’t quite about the “romance of the English Countryside”, it is about a moment caught, about that something special, that thing you only really get from standing there at the right moment and experiencing “it”, experiencing that line, that horizon, that light, that moment. I love the work of Fergus Hare, I make no apology for saying so, i was really looking forward his new works, he hasn’t disappointed. Not everything is perfect here, now sure if he gets the Welsh mountains quite like he does the twilight of Sussex, not sure about that larger planet Uranus. piece, but so much of his work almost is perfect and when did a truly great painter get it right every single time? Fergus Hare is one of my favourite artists, there’s an attachment to what he does, a spirit, a real feel, working in pastel isn’t that much of a departure, it isn’t really about the medium, it really is about what he does with his pastels or his oils, an excellent show… Thursday delivered… (sw)

Fergus Hare, New Works at New Arts Projects, Hackney, East London, March 2019

Fergus Hare’s show New Works run’s alongside a Sarah Sparks show, both shows run at New Art Projects until Sat 27 Apr 2019.  New Art Projects is at 6d Sheep Lane, Hackney, London, E8 4QS.  Just beside Broadway Market, not far from the Regents Canal and a stone’s throw from Beck Road

Lychee One is at Unit 1, The Gransden, 39-45 Gransden Avenue, London E8 3QA Gallery opening hours: Wednesday– Saturday, 12 – 6pm and by appointment. Freya Douglas-Morris, The Sun Long Night is on until 27th April

Previous Fergus Hare coverage – ORGAN THING: English Magic, four painters, a glorious show and a far from dismal land…

.Click on an image to enlarge or to run the slide show

.

.

.

.