Miles Cole Exhibition 8 September - 21 September 2019
An expressive abstract painter, Miles Cole was born in 1965. He studied Fine Art at Gloucester College of Art and the Chelsea School of Art. His early career was spent working as an illustrator with regular commissions from various periodicals such as The Economist, The Times Educational Supplement, Tatler, the Mail on Sunday and many others. In 2010, after a successful career as an illustrator, he returned to painting after a fifteen-year hiatus. His work is rooted in the tradition of British and European post-war Modernism, particularly abstract painting, He says of his work: "The interconnecting lines found in these paintings are a catalyst for what then becomes a sensual engagement with the materials - deconstructing and reconstructing shapes into various compositions until a point of departure from the subject matter has been reached."
As with all artists there are undoubted influences - Kandinsky for one but more particularly the Russian/French abstract painter Serge Poliakoff. Undoubtedly Cole is a master of colour. The power of these paintings relies on two main factors, a perfect understanding of colour and tone and the placing of the right colour against a contrasting colour (powerful in itself), and the use of strong almost three-dimensional shapes, exemplified in his painting 'South Bank'. Combined, these create an explosion of colour that appeals directly to the senses. One does not need to understand the complexities of abstract art to be drawn into its orbit. Stand in front of one of these paintings and you begin a fascinating voyage of discovery.