Image: Claudia De Grandi. ‘Waves 6’ 2018 oils, graphite on canvas 200x200cm

There is a tangible and literal depth of feeling in Claudia De Grandi’s recent works. These new paintings from the two series Waves and Horizons are based on her observations and photographs of the Pacific Ocean and closer to home the steel grey waters of the English Channel near to her Hastings studio.

They make sublime and alluringly poetic images, referencing as they do the seascapes of Turner and Whistler while at the same time expanding and revisiting the historical Modernist genre of Colour Field Abstraction,. The paintings in the series work equally well as contemporary depictions of light and movement within water, yet  are also pervasively drawing the viewer into the abstract.

In a noticeably filmic way, some of the paintings evoke the darkly threatening waters of a psychological thriller, you can sense a disturbing, metronomic soundtrack hinting at  deep waters and danger below the shimmering surface.

These themes actively precipitate De Grandi’s vision for the entire evolving work  as a total immersive installation of painting and music, which will be premiered at an upcoming exhibition in London at Art Project Bermondsey in September.

For now, with this specially curated studio exhibition she offers a prelude to what  promises to be a  visionary, enthralling project.

A Brazilian born artist who lives and works in East Sussex, De Grandi makes her art with well defined and far reaching objectives:

“When I am painting the action of creating connects me to a greater moment of happening – it is the What and the only thing happening at that moment. Reality is a mystery. When trying to paint it you then realise it’s impossible. It can only be painted as it is immediately seen, in front of you, and then modified by the feeling that it transmits.”

De Grandi’s works are increasingly attracting art world and press attention via a series of international exhibitions and performance / installations, with her paintings finding eager collectors in New York, Milan, Tokyo and London.

Further reading: feature on Claudia De Grandi by Duncan Hall for Sussex Life magazine.

More exhibitions in the Hastings area
Art loving metropolitan visitors to this studio showcase would perhaps like to take in other noteworthy exhibitions at the coast this weekend.

At the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings Old Town there is the centenary exhibition celebrating the work of German abstract painter Paul Feller One Hundred Years.

Taking a bracing walk or cab ride along the seafront one can visit the stunningly restored De La Warr Pavilion designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff in nearby Bexhill on Sea.

Alan Rankle.

Claudia De Grandi
Waves and Horizons
Opening: 2-6pm, Saturday 9 June
By appointment: 10–30 June

Claudia De Grandi Studio
Block 2, Unit 8
Brook Way Business Park
Ivyhouse Lane
Hastings TN354NN
degrandi.com

Jerwood Gallery jerwoodgallery.org
De La Warr Pavilion dlwp.com

Image: Claudia De Grandi, Photographed by Sophie Meyer

Image: Claudia De Grandi. ‘Study Series #7’