Having just returned from attending his showing at the Broadway Gallery, New York, Keith Morant promptly puts together another vital exhibition for New Zealand at Alexis International in Christchurch. Sixty six paintings and prints of outstanding quality that display his mastery of many differing mediums. Morant says: I have been creating pictures for over forty years now and, throughout that time, have had to adjust and readjust many times in an effort to improve or enlarge on this or that visual statement. The work has always been a necessary function of my being and, as such, its true value is in how confident I am that it will reach into the future.
"I have always studied differing medias very closely and have experimented with every application of them. Such effort necessitates not only great improvisation but also much pure invention.
"This exhibition comprises of what I deem the most successful of those experiments and inventions. Sometime the methods employed will serve as the inception of a larger and more substantial work. But more often than not, they become strong works in their own right.
"As you will see, all of these works are on paper and the variety of application ranges through watercolour, acrylic, oil, ink, graphite, enamel and various crayons. In some cases it is not a matter of putting the paint on so much as where to take it off.
"The monoprints, for example, are an invented process of planographic (as opposed to intaglio or engraving) where each work is a carefully manipulated one-off. The ink is spread in varying consistencies onto a sheet of glass or a stainless steel plate and the paper is then placed over the ink. Pressure is then applied with rollers, sponges, cloth and/or fingers. The paper is then partially lifted allowing several seconds to elapse and the ink to begin drying. At a critical moment the paper is quickly replaced to pick up ink of a changed consistency. This can happen as many as six or eight times on the one print.
"Of course, there has been much trial and error in perfecting these processes, and while there have been some successes in other subjects, the landscape format has proved the most gratifying as the best results are achieved through the representation of distance and atmosphere.
"Because of the unusual involvement with time lapses (which are gauged intuitionally as well as the second-hand of my watch) I have named them 'Time Prints'.
"It is my hope that in this exhibition you will find something new and stimulating, and thereby nourishing your appreciation of art."
- Keith Morant
Keith Morant has been a Premiere Portfolio Artist at absolutearts.com since April 2006. View more more at http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/k/keithmorant/.
IMAGE
Keith Morant
CYBERLIFE
2006
Mixed Media
517 mm x 522 mm x 20 mm
US$ 3500
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