Hector Campbell’s The Shock of the Now Featured Exhibition: Lewis Brander at Vardaxoglou
Hector Campbell reviews Lewis Brander’s exhibition at Vardaxoglou, for The Shock of the Now.
“Following hot on the heels of ‘First Light’, our recent two-person outing at Collective Ending HQ of Lewis Brander and Sonya Derviz, Lewis’ eponymous debut solo exhibition takes as its point of departure the two smallest works from that previous show, Heatwave and To Think of You, and pulls upon one particular thread of his painting practice to expand upon his series of intimate sky studies. Hearing the perhaps foreboding title of the former, it’s hard not to recall our own recent heat-obsessed existence, as we experience either the hottest summer since records began, or the coldest summer for the foreseeable future. Between a barrage of sweat-glistening thirst traps, overuse of the Hot Face emoji and plenty of 37, 38 and 39 degree Celsius stamped Instagram stories, I found myself opening every email with a muddled mix of ‘I hope you’re enjoying/managing/surviving the heat!’, unsure of each recipient’s respective perspectives. The media became a confusing combination of Met Office red weather warnings, enthusiastic encouragement to enjoy ourselves and meteorologists openly mocked for their supposedly ‘doomsday’ attitudes. As summer settles back into its customary rain showers and sunny spells, it seems like a forgotten fever dream.
Lewis’ paintings, therefore, appear perfectly apt in the aftermath of London becoming momentarily Mediterranean. At the new Soho space of young gallerist Alex Vardaxoglou, London skies are juxtaposed with fresh breaths of Athenian air in urban skyscapes that radiate warmth, recognise light pollution or promote that springtime stillness of potent potential. Many of the paintings are initiated by a period of en plein air observation, sketched straight onto the canvas to reflect the stimulus of their incentive surroundings, before being squirrelled away to the studio where they are finessed and finished, memory ultimately intermingling with those early impressions.”
