Chestnut carries its season with it — the warmth of October light, the brown-into-red of the tree's fruit, the palette of the city in autumn when the planes and chestnuts...
Chestnut carries its season with it — the warmth of October light, the brown-into-red of the tree's fruit, the palette of the city in autumn when the planes and chestnuts on every London street turn at once. Jonathan Lawes's seven-colour abstract sits in that warm territory, the geometric structure of his compositions holding the seasonal colour without being determined by it.
Lawes graduated in Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern Design from Leeds Arts University in 2009, spent a decade in Berlin and has been based in south-east London since 2018. His practice is built around the silkscreen process used as drawing, with seasonal walks along the Thames feeding the palette that shifts piece by piece. 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.