Apple — the colour, the freshness, the specific green-into-white that the fruit suggests as a palette. Jonathan Lawes's seven-colour abstract screen print carries that quality through the layered geometric composition,...
Apple — the colour, the freshness, the specific green-into-white that the fruit suggests as a palette. Jonathan Lawes's seven-colour abstract screen print carries that quality through the layered geometric composition, the title doing what his best piece names do: implying a palette, an atmosphere and a set of associations without spelling any of them out.
Lawes graduated in Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern Design from Leeds Arts University in 2009 and spent the following decade in Berlin before returning to south-east London. He works with a mental library of shapes rearranged intuitively at the printing table, seasonal walks along the Thames feeding his ever-shifting palette. Seven colours on 310gsm Southbank Smooth paper. Signed. £80.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jonathan Lawes
Jonathan Lawes graduated with a BA in Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern Design from Leeds Arts University in 2009, spent the following decade living and working in Berlin, and has been based in Peckham, south-east London since 2018. Working from a studio by the Thames, his practice centres on silkscreen printing — a process he uses organically, building bold geometric abstractions by cutting loose stencils, layering translucent pigment and hand-pulling each sheet, letting colour dictate direction. He draws from Matisse, Miró, Chillida and the Bauhaus, as well as vintage textiles and the changing light of the Thames. His work has expanded from paper onto canvas, reclaimed timber and vintage book covers, and he has collaborated with COS, The Conran Shop and Joseph Joseph. Solo exhibitions in the UK.