Danny Markey

New Paintings

Ever since his first exhibition at The Redfern Gallery back in 1993, Danny Markey's subjects have always been found in the city in which he lives. Whether it be south London, Tokyo or Los Angeles, Markey has always been drawn to paint the humdrum but ephemeral aspects of city life, in particular shop fronts, car parks and motorways. As he explains, these places feel somehow quite special, in that they "haven't been around for artists in the past, and will be gone for artists in the future".

But, since moving a decade ago, to a small village in Somerset, he admits that his impulse to paint dissipated dramatically. He struggled for a long time to respond artistically to his new home in the countryside, failing to connect with the endless expanses of fields and trees.

One afternoon, looking from a train window, Markey glimpsed in the distance a newly erected line of pylons stretching across the countryside. These controversial, manmade alterations to the natural land reignited his painterly impulses, and have since become a recurring motif in his work. He returns to the pylons time and again, setting them against seasonal shifts and changing light. Sometimes they stand illuminated against a clear blue sky, or half-seen against a cold autumnal mist. In others, they become almost majestic, when silhouetted against a particularly notable sunset. Through these fleeting backdrops, Markey's interest in finding ephemeral subjects continues once more. And, as with much of his work, Markey is moved to paint en plein air. As such, the paintings are typified by bold, confident brushstrokes and vigorous execution.

Goal-posts erected in fields, themselves manmade interventions within the landscape, have also caught his eye. Although he has painted football-related subjects for the past three decades, these latest oils are different. Removed of their urban context, they contain subtle reminders of the current Somerset locale - while an informal kickabout, often between his own children, takes place, tiny pylons can be seen in the distance, and rolling fields abound. In some of Markey's earlier scenes, painted in south London, the football pitch is the only respite from a world of tarmac and concrete. This may be a new life in the country, but Markey is still able to find poetry in the ephemeral.

Accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue