FRANCISCO NICOLÁS

LAMB arts is pleased to present the first solo show in London of leading Spanish painter, Francisco Nicolas.

In an age of increasingly sophisticated digital photography - not to mention increasingly numerous artistic media - Nicolas realises the age-old medium of painting he first adopted in the late 1970s at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Barcelona, must adapt and evolve to survive.

His work - commonly acrylic on canvas or wood - is inspired by the rich painterly tradition of his native Spain and various visits to the Prado, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and other museums to see the canvases of Velazquez, El Greco et al. Yet it's the landscape genre, both the classical archetypes of Claude Lorrain and Romantic examples of early 19thcentury Germany, that are his preferred starting-point. In his subsequent artistic interferences, Nicolas conceives himself as a tiller or worker on that land, superimposing geometric abstract shapes on a given scene.

Timeless landscapes are duly augmented by squares, oblongs and triangles, at once eternal mathematical polygons but also unmistakable symbols in the history of art of hard-edged abstraction, firmly rooted in early 20th century culture.   

This show features 25 acrylic works, all of which have been created in the last five years since Nicolas returned to health after a life-threatening illness. He says their musing on the nature of time has both aided his recovery and reflected it.