Our glorious day will include country fashion shows from Holland & Holland, The Famous Grouse whisky tasting, talks and book signings by renown wildlife artists Simon Gudgeon and Andrew Ellis and game cuisine from The Greenhouse. Download the full schedule below.

For further details please contact Meg Ward on mward@halcyongallery.com or 020 7647 8328

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http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibition/5:368/18379

In recent years, the popularity of natural art has increased, as issues of conservation of habitats, sustainable ways of controlling animal populations and preservation of species, all put at risk as a consequence of human activity, are brought to the forefront of today’s society. Powerfully echoing these themes, the artists featured in this exhibition lead us on our own journey of natural exploration around the globe.

Having grown up in Africa, Kim Donaldson has a particular affinity for its wildlife and the immense landscapes of the continent. In his hands, a drama unfurls from threatening cloudscapes, winter grasslands or leafless baobab trees; the animals do not take second place but, rather, gain from the drama that encircles them. His art is distinctive for its use of pastels, brimming with mellow tones and giving a sense that it is painted using the very soil of Africa.

A naturalist-painter with a wealth of experience, Alan M. Hunt has been called the ‘silver-haired godfather of wildlife art’ and he has helped many younger artists during the course of his career. Journeying throughout the world in his quest to paint the dramas of animal behaviour, he embeds them within the natural environment, observed with the knowledge of a zoologist and the poetic perception of an artist. With a keen awareness of the texture of reality, he paints a King penguin moulting, the light playing across its fluffy feathers, or a group bemused by snowflakes. In the tropics, his tigers prowl or fight; young cheetahs rest in the shade and dramatic zebra canvases follow the migration across the Serengeti plains. Hunt’s paintings reveal his understanding of ecology and his vision of the relationship between animal and habitat.

Brian Jarvi is another artist who particularly focuses on African wildlife, creating evocative paintings that document the drama of daily survival: zebras ambushed by a lean lioness; a herd of elephants kicking up a dust storm; hippos plunging into the Mara River. Many canvases are almost impressionistic, playing with light and shade across grassland or sunlight filtering through haze.

Birds dominate the canvases of Andrew Ellis; flying above sparse vegetation or gliding over rippled water. A goldfinch confronts us from a thistle, a hoopoe from a rocky perch, and puffins huddle together on Skomer Island; all are depicted with anatomical perfection.  Recent trips to the Middle East have resulted in a series of works depicting mammals of the region.

An artist with a passion for observing creatures in the wild and working for their conservation, Simon Gudgeon sculpts elegant, tactile bronzes of swans and swallows, ravens and pelicans. Catching ostriches advancing or otters chasing fish, he captures motion in flowing, abstracted forms with contemporary grace and power.

Michael Jackson takes his inspiration from the wild animals of India, Borneo’s tropical forests and Africa’s savannah as well as the wild creatures of Britain. Passionate about conserving flora and fauna, he depicts his subjects with intense precision.

Steve Winterburn has travelled widely to research the animals of Australia, Barbados, Peru and east Africa. His finely worked bronzes, which he not only creates but also casts and finishes himself, have an intrinsic dynamism that conveys the gait of a camel or the power behind a cheetah’s spring. Wolves’ coats and elephants’ hide are heavily textured, the horns of an oryx awesome.

Human beings have always depicted the natural world, and the hope must be that the continuance of natural art will help ensure the survival of the diverse species of our planet.

Depictions of animals predate recorded history and sporting art can be traced right back to prehistoric cave paintings.  It was not until the 18th century, however, that the genre truly flourished.  George Stubbs was a pioneer in the subject becoming the leading horse artist of his age, celebrating English country life in his portraits of jockeys, grooms, horses, dogs and wild animals.

Birds are the starting point for painter Andrew Ellis, and they dominate his canvases. Gliding on air currents far above the fields or perched alert against striated cliffs, they are depicted with anatomical perfection. Ellis is a trained falconer and active in countryside management; affinity for his subjects gives his paintings an authority that has been recognised in commissions for scholarly publications, including the forthcoming book Peregrines of the World.

Simon Gudgeon, who has been called the ‘stalking sculptor’, is an artist with a passion for observing creatures in the wild and working for their conservation. Both game shooting and stalking equip him with an enviable knowledge of the subjects he sculpts: dramatic bronzes of woodcock and salmon, roe deer and partridge. Catching grouse breaking cover or otters chasing fish, he captures motion in flowing, abstracted forms with contemporary grace and power.

Both artists have a passion for wildlife and provide a window through which we can perceive something of its beauty.

25 JUNE – 22 AUGUST 2010

On 25 June 2010, a new sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn, son of the late Hollywood actor Anthony Quinn, entitled Vroom Vroom was unveiled outside the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, the oldest contemporary art museum in Spain.

The sculpture was originally going to be displayed outside the museum until 25 July, but its unprecedented popularity, as demonstrated by the crowds of people who flocked to the unveiling at the museum, has resulted in a direct request from IVAM to keep Vroom Vroom outside the museum until 22 August, a month longer than originally planned.

The museum’s endorsement of Quinn’s sculpture only serves to reinforce his standing within the international art community, and underpins his huge popularity with the public.

VROOM VROOM BY LORENZO QUINN

The four-metre high sculpture consists of a vintage Fiat 500, the first car that the sculptor ever bought, grasped by an oversized aluminium child's hand modelled from Quinn’s son. The work alludes to the relationship between parents and their children and represents the independence and freedom Quinn felt when he bought his first car.

Quinn says:

‘Each and every one of my art works is a little part of me, they are my experiences, thoughts, desires, feelings...

Vroom Vroom represents part of my independence, my freedom, my personal growth. This was the first car that I bought with the money I made from my early works. It was hard work, but the purchase was satisfying. I had obtained something I really wanted through my own effort. I did not depend on my parents anymore, I was grown up.

This car has been my talisman. One day a client visiting my studio said "that car is so small, it looks like a toy." This comment made me think: often the only difference between a child and an adult is the price of the toy.

Actually, this car was a toy to me, I worked hard to get it, and once I had it I enjoyed it like a child would. I think that over the years, social pressure makes us lose our innocence and excitement about the little things. We end up forgetting the child within.This sculpture represents the innocence and excitement about the little things that make us happy.’

For more information visit the IVAM website http://www.ivam.es/ 

Royo has passionately and wholeheartedly dedicated the last 30 years of his 50-year artistic career to the same subject matter: the female form. Always painted en plein air, the backdrops to these radiant paintings are inspired by the vivid blues of the Mediterranean sea and sky.

As a contrast, Royo uses an extraordinary range of different white tones. Applied in rapid, concise brushstrokes, as he says, they are “whites composed of thousand whites”, with dashes of colour overlaid to depict shadow and light. The paint is used, not just as colour, but as a texture, lending an expressionist element to his work.

Based in Valencia, Royo’s career spans five decades, obsessively painting since the age of seven. Royo then honed his artistic genius at the prestigious Royal Academy of San Carlos in Valencia. Royo has participated in a number of international art fairs and exhibited throughout his native Spain, across Europe, Japan and the United States. He has been commissioned to create important works such as several portraits for the High Ministry of Justice in Spain and a portrait of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain for the Spanish Embassy in Japan, and was also awarded the prestigious Rotary Personality of the year award in 2009."

AZULES Y BLANCOS

17 JUNE – 31 JULY 2010

On 17 June 2010, Halcyon Gallery in London will open Azules y Blancos, an exhibition of paintings by contemporary Valencian figurative painter, Royo. This exhibition comprises 30 new oil paintings on canvas together with a selection of large drawings.

Royo has passionately and wholeheartedly dedicated the last 30 years of his artistic career to the same subject matter: the female form. He is inspired by many historical periods from the Old Masters such as Velazquez (1599-1660) and Goya (1746-1828) to the 19^th-century Impressionists such as Degas (1834-1917) and especially Sorolla (1863-1923). Always painted en plein air, these radiant paintings combine the formal elements of Western portraiture with the subtlety of a contemporary master’s eye. The deflection of his sitter’s gaze creates allegorical portraits of female spiritual beauty. This is reminiscent of early Western art such as “The Venus of Milo” the ancient Greek sculpture depicting Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.  In paintings such as “Azules y Blancos” (Blues and Whites), the female silhouette becomes Royo’s goddess and is depicted by a vast range of different white tones, applied in rapid, concise brushstrokes to create a ray of  light across the picture.  

The “whites composed of thousand whites”, as Royo notes, continue in “Amanecer” (Dawn) but this time they have overtones of soft yellows of the morning sun, and in “Atardecer” (Evening), the evening light. Here the paint is used not just as colour but as a texture, giving an expressionist feeling of tranquillity. The blues of the Mediterranean which are exquisitely painted over the background of “Musa” (Muse) capture the intense atmosphere of his homeland. The sky is velvety and intense, while drops of soft red reflect over the white hues of the Mediterranean Sea and light.  

Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery, says “This is our second exhibition of Royo’s work and we are looking forward to having the gallery transformed by the scale and luminosity of these beautiful and unique canvases.”

The hard-man actor from Essex steps into the frame for the artist Mitch Griffiths in his radical new series on the Union Jack
Written by Lesley White

At first you don’t notice the family resemblance. In the elegant Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair stand two portraits that stop you in your tracks: the flag bearer and his daughter. In one, a dejected young woman huddles in a grubby Union Jack like a battle-scarred Britannia. In the second, a film star stares out from his own red, white and blue cocoon, stripped of all assets except his expression of hard-won realism. The models are Ray Winstone and his daughter Lois; the artist is Mitch Griffiths, a man who is never going to win the Turner prize.

He paints with a high-gloss realism — straight onto the canvas with oils — producing portraits suffused with light and minute detail that evoke old masters and classical frescoes thrust into an uncomfortable modernity. He gives us hoodies, self-harmers and suicide blondes, their images as sleek as an adman’s pitch. He lives in Devizes in Wiltshire, but 15th-century Florence might have suited him better. In the self-referential world of modern art, he is unfashionably figurative, a polemical portraitist who starts with an idea, finding models who can convey the thoughts he scribbles in the notebook he keeps beside his bed.

His most recent work, shown here for the first time, features the hard-man actor from Essex. Ray Winstone is stony-faced in the picture; in conversation with me he is a big old pussycat, but whenever the camera was turned on him, his expression tightened into that familiar, bankable menace. “I had to tell him to soften it,” laughs the artist. The Flag Bearer is a gem in Griffiths’ new show, The Promised Land, which opens later this month. Is it an image of right-wing bigotry, of proud patriotism, or just of an actor wearing another costume between shooting the films that have made him a better export than the Jaguar XKR parked outside his (very big) house in the country?

“To me, Ray epitomises being British,” smiles Griffiths. “He’s someone people think has achieved a lot, but anyone could talk to him. He’s one of ours going over to Hollywood. He doesn’t see himself as a celebrity.”

Griffiths’ core subject is Britishness, the pursuit of identity in our post-colonial melting pot, the tainting and trashing of the sceptred isle, its use in thrall to the fast buck of celebrity, its self-obsession as ugly as an infected tattoo...

Click on the below PDF or go to http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article7097683.ece to read more

The guests were welcomed by Richard Desmond, President of Norwood, who thanked them for their support of Norwood. He then handed over to Norma Brier, Norwood’s Chief Executive, who spoke about recent developments at the Charity.

She told them that the recession has resulted in a reduction in central government and local authority funding. But she insisted that Norwood had anticipated this and has already responded with a robust efficiency drive, while its new three year strategy would allow it to meet any future challenges head on.

She also spoke about Norwood’s commitment to changes in the model of social care which gives people, even those with the most complex needs, greater control and choice over their lives and supports them to become more independent. Evidence of this can be seen in the expansion of Norwood’s Supported Living, Employment and Day Opportunities services for adults with learning disabilities. Many of these services are based at the new Norwood WorkHub, which will be officially opened next month and was made possible through the generous support of Richard Desmond and his music super-group the RD Crusaders.

Concluding her address, she vowed: “The Government and local authorities are cutting back, but Norwood cannot and must not reduce the services that provide a lifeline to so many of the Jewish Community’s most vulnerable people. With your continued support, we can ensure that even during times of economic hardship, emotional trauma and crises, children and their families, and people with disabilities, can receive the support they need to live fulfilled lives.

She added: “Thank you for helping Norwood to  change peoples’ lives and I hope that by doing so your own lives have also been changed and enriched by knowing that your contribution is making a real difference to so many children, adults and families.”

The exhibition at the grand five-storey Georgian gallery in Bruton Street was an exclusive collection of Dylan’s first paintings on canvas. The paintings are based on drawings and sketches made while on the road between 1989 and 1992 and are the finale to his The Drawn Blank Series. Guests listened to Aaron Young, a Director at the Halcyon Gallery, who told an amusing story about his first meeting with Dylan and encouraged them to ‘let art into their lives’.

Russell Green, Managing Director of the Halcyon Gallery, said: “Halcyon is delighted to once again host this event for Norwood. It is a fantastic cause and it is important for us all to continue to support its life-changing work during this difficult economic climate.”

For more information about Norwood please go to www.norwood.org.uk

WITH ICONIC NEW BOND STREET GALLERY

Halcyon Gallery, one of London’s leading fine art galleries, announced today that it has acquired the lease of 144-146 New Bond Street, a Grade II listed building which was originally designed as an art gallery in 1911. Halcyon Gallery will continue the building’s 100-year legacy as a purpose-built art space with a sympathetic design by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, the architectural firm who have designed several London landmarks such as the Barbican Centre.

The acquisition of the 10,000 square foot space over 3 floors further consolidates Halcyon Gallery’s position within the art market. It demonstrates the gallery’s commitment to presenting its artists with the best possible exhibition space on a street which has been an art world hub for over 150 years. Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery, said:

“Our aim is to bring this distinguished building into the 21^st century with a design which will incorporate the original features while creating an inspiring new contemporary art space. It will enable us to expand our stable of artists and exhibition programme, and give us a dedicated exhibition space for our collection of rare masterpieces from Impressionism to Pop.”

In February 2008, the company opened its flagship gallery and headquarters at 24 Bruton Street in Mayfair with its team of highly-experienced art experts, exhibitions of work by world-renowned artists including Bob Dylan, Lorenzo Quinn and Mitch Griffiths and an extensive list of prominent clients. The gallery at 144-146 New Bond Street will operate in addition to 24 Bruton Street.

Green concludes, "We are committed to building upon the company’s 26 years of success and ensuring Halcyon Gallery continues to attract the best artistic talent. The new space enables us to continue our support of both young and established artists, by giving them the most incredible venue in which to exhibit their artwork. ”

Scott Gray, Managing Director of the World Photography Organisation comments: “Over such an incredible life and long career it is difficult to imagine what Eve Arnold did not capture on film, and what she did capture are some of the most abiding images of our time. We are proud and honoured to celebrate her life and work at this year’s Sony World Photography Awards.”

Zelda Cheatle, curator and close friend of Eve Arnold, added: “Eve is utterly delighted to be honoured with this award. For someone who began working in a tough world she never lost sights of her femininity and used her intelligence and powers of observation to succeed. I am still full of admiration for someone who shows such determination, perseverance and courage.”

 Eve Arnold began working as a photographer in the early 1950s. Having worked at a film processing plant in New York, and then studying under Alexei Brodovitch, the art director of Harper’s Bazaar, she approached Magnum with a series of work she had taken of migrant labourers in Long Island. She was one of the first women to be taken on by the agency, first as a stringer and then, in 1954, as a full member, working under the tutorage of founders Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa. Fascinated by social commentary from the start, one of her earliest photo stories to be published was of black models at a fashion show in Harlem. She became involved in the civil rights movement, with Malcolm X personally choosing her to follow him on his tours. From early in her career, Arnold photographed a host of stars including Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, Marlene Deitrich and Isabella Rossellini all of whom became close friends. She travelled the world extensively, photographing in China, Russia, South Africa and Afghanistan. She moved to London in 1960 with her son and became a regular contributor to the Sunday Times. Eve Arnold, who still lives in London, continued to photograph well into the nineties and addressed writing her books, in particular In Retrospect and Film Journal, editing her work and preparing all her archive. She captioned, dated and signed every one of her prints (amounting to thousands) and continued to be an active voting member of Magnum.

A retrospective of Eve Arnold’s work, drawn from the Tosca Photography Fund Collection and curated by Zelda Cheatle, will be exhibited in Cannes (22-27 April) as part of the World Photography Festival which will include workshops, portfolio reviews, student programmes and talks from World Photography Academy members and respected figures of the international photographic community.

The accolade, which was awarded last year to the French photographer, Marc Riboud, was created to honour a photographer for a lifetime of widely recognised and critically acclaimed work. For more information please visit the World Photography Awards website.

Bob Dylan artworks unveiled

BBC Arts correspondent David Sillito reports on Bob Dylan on Canvas. See the report on the BBC News Channel at the below link

Simon Gudgeon is an acclaimed British sculptor, whose unique signature style represents the movement and emotions of nature in smooth forms and lines. Simon has attained worldwide recognition in recent years, and exhibited internationally, with highly-acclaimed shows in London, New York, San Diego, Paris and the Netherlands. His work features in many important private collections both in the UK and abroad, such as those of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Northumberland.

For more information about the collection and new catalogue, please call +44 (0) 2076597640

There will be 25 new paintings by Mitch Griffiths on display at Halcyon Gallery, 24 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London from 28 April - 05 June 2010.

Griffiths uses a traditional, almost forgotten style of painting, inspired by the light and composition of Old Master paintings, but he uses this style to depict the issues concerning 21st-century British society. His main subject is the transient and throwaway nature of contemporary culture, which is held in stark contrast to the permanence and indelibility of oil paint on canvas.

Griffiths says: “Once you paint a MacDonald’s burger box in oil paint, it becomes important and immortal. It’s a permanent mark of the disposable.”

This exhibition references 21^st-century Britain and, taking the Union Jack as the recurring theme, it explores the inflammatory nature of what the flag represents alongside what Griffiths perceives to the overriding concerns of today’s society: consumerism and self-obsession followed by the need for redemption.

These large-scale oil on canvas portraits depict disturbing scenes of modern life with often alarming realism and candour. The Muse is Dead takes the classical image of the muse and immediately unsettles any preconceptions the viewer may have of this historic figure. The muse, who is being simultaneously cradled and grabbed by two paparazzi and a surgeon, deals with the ephemeral nature of celebrity and the shortening attention span of a society which idolises a person or an object one minute and quickly discards it the next.

The Flag Bearer’s Daughter depicts a girl wrapped in the British flag with a distressed yet defiant air.  The viewer can only speculate as to what kind of trauma she has endured and whether the black marks on her face are smudged makeup or in fact the remnants of war paint. Is the flag providing a comfort or was it the cause of the suffering? Perhaps the girl is a personification of Britain? Patriotism is a subject which fascinates Griffiths – his particular concern is the widespread discrepancy between what people perceive it to be and what it actually is.

The iconographic composition of Consumption, which shows a man preparing to hang himself while holding Tesco bags filled with empty plastic bottles, draws the mind to notions of sacrifice and religion. On his face an expression of rapture suggests that he is looking forward to relinquishing the trappings of material life.

Mitch Griffiths is one of the UK’s most accomplished artists whose captivating and expressive portraits have been widely recognised through art prizes including the BP Portrait Award. His remarkable talent has attracted an international following with celebrity portrait commissions and sell-out shows.

Paul Green, president of Halcyon Gallery said: “Mitch’s long-awaited show this spring is an important punctuation in his career. It builds up to the Iconostasis exhibition in 2012, which will include portraits of famous faces including Ray Winstone and Keira Knightley and which is set to  be a blockbuster show.”

Contact information:

For further press information or high resolution images for publication please contact Anna Kirrage at Halcyon Gallery on 020 7647 8327 or akirrage@halcyongallery.com

In case you have missed Lorenzo Quinn's important Equilibrium exhibition at 24 Bruton Street you can now see the exhibition through our virtual tour.

Opens 13 February 2010

“This suite of new acrylic on canvas paintings by Bob Dylan is, on first sight, startlingly fluent, original and imaginative, but it is soon clear that they are also subtle and with deep meaning.”

Professor Maurice Cockrill RA

On 13 February 2010 the prestigious Halcyon Gallery at 24 Bruton Street, Mayfair will open Bob Dylan on Canvas: an exclusive exhibition of Bob Dylan’s first paintings on canvas. This unique body of work witnesses the culmination of his artistic progression in The Drawn Blank Series: from drawings to works on paper and now finally to canvas. The Bob Dylan on Canvas exhibition signifies an end to this chapter in his artistic career as he moves forward from The Drawn Blank Series and onto the next phase.

Based on drawings and sketches made while on the road during the period of 1989 - 1992, the paintings in Bob Dylan on Canvas visually echo the stylistic hallmarks of Dylan’s prose, poetry and music.  Just as Dylan’s songs are constantly reinvigorated and rediscovered through his live performances, so these paintings revisit images and scenes which were captured in all their immediacy by the artist.

Bob Dylan said of his paintings: “I just draw what’s interesting to me, and then I paint it.  Rows of houses, orchard acres, lines of tree trunks, could be anything. I can take a bowl of fruit and turn it into a life and death drama. Women are power figures, so I depict them that way.  I can find people to paint in mobile home communities. I could paint bourgeois people too.

I’m not trying to make social comment or fulfil somebody’s vision and I can find subject matter anywhere. I guess in some way that comes out of the folk world that I came up in.”

In these latest works the painterly quality enhances the atmosphere of the subject matter, as Professor Maurice Cockrill RA writes:  The larger canvases of these later paintings are images which stand as single statements offering multiple interpretations.  Each has a brilliance and translucency of colour that contributes greatly to the emotional charge of the subject, in much the same way vigorous brushwork brings a particular velocity to the drawing and construction of the compositions.  

Bob Dylan on Canvas is the last UK exhibition of this body of work and foreshadows his upcoming exhibition at the prestigious Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen in which he will unveil new works along with selected pieces from The Drawn Blank Series, curated by Dr. Kasper Monrad.

Paul Green, President of the Halcyon Gallery, commented: “These paintings are the culmination of everything Dylan has done with The Drawn Blank Series so far, signalling a new phase in the artist's career. The evolution of medium, from paper to canvas, has been an important development resulting in a creative explosion which has given greater meaning to the paintings. Bob Dylan on Canvas is the grand finale of the Drawn Blank years and the precursor of the new 'Brazil' series in which Dylan explores the canvas further.”

London, UK – 18 December 2009. Today, Halcyon Gallery at 24 Bruton Street, Mayfair announced it will stage a new show, The Promised Land, for Mitch Griffiths of 25 extraordinary new paintings containing narrative and energy that express his anxieties about modern life in a symbolic and illustrative way.  The exhibition will open on 28^th April 2010 and will include modern day masterpieces; Flag Bearer’s Daughter, Rehabilitation and The Muse is Dead.

Mitch Griffiths is one of the UK’s most accomplished artists whose detailed, figurative paintings are bluntly honest with a skill and complexity common in paintings of the Old Masters. His captivating and expressive portraits have been widely recognised through art prizes including the BP Portrait awards.  Mitch’s remarkable talent has attracted an international following with celebrity portrait commissions, sell-out shows and long awaited anticipation from collectors to see his new work.

Paul Green, President, Halcyon Gallery said:  "Mitch’s long awaited show this Spring is an important punctuation in his career and builds up to the Iconostasis exhibition in 2011 of world icons, including portraits of Ray Winstone and Keira Knightley, which has the potential to be an international blockbuster show."

2010

Mitch Griffiths

The Promised Land

From 28 April 2010

Mayfair’s Halcyon Gallery at 24 Bruton Street

Including 25 new paintings and modern day masterpieces; Flag Bearer’s Daughter, Rehabilitation and The Muse is Dead

2011

Mitch Griffiths

Iconostasis 

Dates to be announced

Mayfair’s Halcyon Gallery at 24 Bruton Street

Exhibition of world icons, including portraits of Ray Winstone and Keira Knightley

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

For further press information, high resolution images for publication or Mitch Griffith’s full biography please contact Emily Hewitt at Four Communications on 0870 626 9914 or emily.hewitt@fourcommunications.com  and Niki Gifford Halcyon Gallery  020 7647 8325 ngifford@halcyongallery.com

Mitch Griffiths biography

Mitch Griffiths was born in the Midlands in 1971.  Griffiths studied Graphic Design at Torquay College and then on to Southampton to study a course in Illustration. He spent many subsequent years studying in his studio and has honed his skills as an astounding oil painter

Mitch’s work has been selected for the BP Portrait Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on three separate occasions.  In 2001‘Armoured Heart’ was selected, with the painting featured on the cover of the BP Portrait Award catalogue.  In 2003 ‘Sending Message: Be My Wife’ was selected, with Mitch proposing to his wife in front of this specially created painting.  In 2004 ‘Artist, Model And Critic’ was selected for exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery for the BP Portrait Award.

Brian Sewell has commented “a work of substantial authority, technically more than competent, and, damn it though many will for its references to ancestral painters, Caravaggio among them (the Seven Deadly Sins in place of the Seven Works of Mercy), it should have been short-listed for a prize.”

2004 Halcyon Gallery started representing Mitch.

2006 Solo exhibition ‘Reality’ at the Halcyon Gallery, London

Halcyon Gallery

Situated in the heart of Mayfair, London, Halcyon Gallery is one of Europe’s leading art galleries representing some of the finest artists and sculptors working today. Halcyon Gallery is committed to supporting and nurturing outstanding living artists, specialising in fine art and master graphics as well as original paintings, drawings and sculpture.

Halcyon Gallery’s magnificent five storey flagship gallery at 24 Bruton Street opened in 2008, joining the original gallery, established in 1973, at 29 New Bond Street.  Both spaces hold dramatic exhibitions of existing and new works throughout the year.  For further information please visit: www.halcyongallery.com  

How to find us:

24 Bruton Street

London

W1J 6QQ

Nearest tube: Green Park

Visitor information:  + 44 (0)20 7659 7640

Free entry

Finding Equilibrium

'International sculptor Lorenzo Quinn’s new work pushes the boundaries of scale and space and tackles important causes. It is also a statement about his progression as an artist, some 20 years into his career, writes Kathryn Tully.'

See below the video of the unveiling of 'Give and Take III' in Berkley square and an interview with Lorenzo Quinn about his Equilibrium exhibition.

“It is astonishing that a painter like Mitch Griffiths exists for he has no right to. His pictures are figurative, minutely finished and, in the larger oils, as compositionally complex as any figurative paintings currently being produced. If you believe those with authority in contemporary art matters, those who can see better than the rest of us, Griffiths’s painting is neither intellectually stimulating nor emotionally engaging. His style of work, we are told, is pointless, and not what we should be expecting of a serious painter in the 21st century. These authorities are, of course, wrong, deeply wrong, and in the future viewers of art will have far more idea of the way we live now and what tortured our thoughts from Griffiths’s work than ever they will from any Turner Prize winner...” David Lee, Editor, ‘The Jackdaw’

To read more click on the PDF link

London, UK. 6th November 2009. Lorenzo Quinn’s Equilibrium will be the major exhibition at Halcyon’s flagship five storey gallery space in Bruton Street from 18 November 2009 until 31 January 2010.  Renowned world-wide for being one of the most influential and avant-garde sculptors of his time, Quinn’s Equilibrium involves a new body of sculpture works alongside some of his most powerful pieces from previous unseen collections.

In addition to the exhibition, one of Quinn’s most enduring works Give and Take III will spend six months on public display in Berkeley Square until May 2010.

Celebrating the opening of this important show, the Gallery will host a ‘Meet the Artist’ day on Saturday 21, with Lorenzo Quinn discussing the inspiration for his new work, his poetry and his vision.  The Gallery will also be open on Sunday 22, from 11am until 5pm.

Quinn’s works are internationally acclaimed. Major commissions include the United Nations, the Vatican and a sculpture for Bacardi to honour the hometown of its founder in Sitges, Spain. His cultural influence has been recognised in an iconic advert for Absolut Vodka, entitled Absolut Lorenzo, part of a campaign featuring celebrated international artists. Quinn has received widespread success in the highly regarded Middle Eastern art market.  Highlights include his iconic sculpture Rise Through Education in Doha, Qatar (2005) and a new commission to create an Olympic Tower, to be unveiled in Doha in 2010.

For Equilibrium, Quinn has created 30 new pieces including What Came First?, Love and Home Sweet Home. 

What Came First? depicts male and female forms, each within an egg-shaped marble hemisphere, displaying the sculptor’s rich figurative symbolism at its finest.

The Love series of kinetic sculptures features paired hands, a recurring theme in Quinn’s work, representing the four stages of a relationship. Hypnotic and graceful, the works evoke the hands of strolling lovers. Considered the greatest challenge for an artist depicting the human form, for Quinn hands convey the intimacy of human interaction in a simple, powerful way.

In Home Sweet Home, he uses the female form cocooned in barbed wire to represent the claustrophobia and isolation of victims of domestic abuse. Quinn and his wife are active in their work for charities supporting victims of domestic abuse.

Accompanied by his most popular works such as Adam and Eve, Force of Nature and the colossal Hand of God, Equilibrium presents an oeuvre of work mature in style and demonstrative of Quinn’s visceral empathy and technical accomplishment.

Poetry, family and society all feed into the creative process of his work and the immediate emotional response his works produce mirror this heart-felt input. Quinn comments: ‘My inspiration comes from the everyday life, books or poems that I read, from my encounters with people and from my own experiences; sculpture is a part of who I am.  I feel honoured and proud to be working with Halcyon Gallery to put together this major exhibition and to share my work with the world.’

Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery comments: ‘This exhibition is a culmination of our decade-long partnership with Lorenzo Quinn, and Equilibrium is validation of his growing status.  We are also delighted that his celebrated piece ‘Give and Take III’ will be accessible to all Berkeley Square visitors until May 2010.’

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

For further press information, high resolution images for publication and Lorenzo Quinn’s full biography please contact Emily Hewitt at Four Communications on 0870 626 9914 or emily.hewitt@fourcommunications.com

Lorenzo Quinn Biography

Lorenzo Quinn was born in Rome, Italy and is the son of the Mexican American actor Anthony Quinn.

He studied at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York and subsequently in workshops and foundries across the United States and Europe. He currently lives in Spain with his wife and children.

Inspired by the great masters such as Michelangelo, Bernini, Carpaux and Rodin, Lorenzo’s work is included in many high profile private collections around the world, which has lead to a prodigious amount of commissioned work.

In September 2009, Lorenzo’s dramatic sculpture, ‘View into the Future’, commissioned by Bacardi, was unveiled in the town of Sitges, Spain. The inauguration of another public commission for the Fraga Council followed in October 2009, in Lleida, Spain. He is currently working on a number of high-profile commissions for public and private placement in Europe and the Middle East.

Halcyon Gallery

Situated in the heart of Mayfair, London, Halcyon Gallery is one of Europe’s leading art galleries representing some of the finest artists and sculptors working today. Halcyon Gallery is committed to supporting and nurturing outstanding living artists, specialising in fine art and master graphics as well as original paintings, drawings and sculpture.

Halcyon Gallery’s magnificent five storey flagship gallery at 24 Bruton Street opened in 2008, joining the original gallery, established in 1973, at 29 New Bond Street.  Both spaces hold dramatic exhibitions of existing and new works throughout the year.  For further information please visit: www.halcyongallery.com  

24 Bruton Street

London

W1J 6QQ

Nearest tube: Green Park

Visitor information:  + 44 (0)20 7659 7640

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm

Sunday by appointment only, except Sunday 22 November when the Gallery will open from 11am-5pm

Free entry

Billboard locations:

West Cross Route

Hammersmith

Battersea Reach

Wandsworth Bridge

“There is not another artist that can capture the magic of dance with such colour and movement”

Andrew Lloyd Webber

This October, Halcyon Gallery will present Robert Heindel 1938-2005 – the most complete collection of the artist’s work to go on display in the UK spanning 25 years of his hugely successful career. Many of the works have never been publicly displayed before.

Described by David Bintley * as "The greatest painter of dance since Degas", Heindel was synonymous with the ballet, receiving widespread international recognition both in the worlds of dance and art. His devotion and commitment led to collaborations with some of the world’s most renowned ballet companies – including the Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Scottish Ballet and the Noh and Kabuki Dance and Theatre of Japan – and unique access to leading dancers and choreographers of the late twentieth century -   Sir Anthony Dowell, Dame Monica Mason, Gillian Lynn, Darcey Bussell, Irek Mukhamedov, Viviana Durante.

Heindel’s reputation for capturing the spirit of dance and dancers was unrivalled. His interest lay primarily in the rehearsal where he would observe and sketch before developing his powerful oil and pastel works, conveying the strength and grace of his subjects.

Heindel’s early success in Britain - following an acclaimed show in 1986 at the Royal Festival Hall - led to work with leading figures in the world of theatre and musicals. He was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber - a keen collector of his work - to paint The Phantom of the Opera and Cats in the pre-opening stages, and Cameron Mackintosh commissioned him to paint the barricade scene of Les Miserables.

Both Heindel’s paintings and sketches feature in prestigious international private and public collections including, HRH Diana Princess of Wales and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, National Portrait Gallery (London), Glasgow Museums, The Smithsonian Institute (Washington D.C.), and the Norman Rockwell Museum.

The exhibition at Halcyon gallery features 30 originals paintings and over 50 original prints. From his immersion in the dance world he created highly personal and emotional works connecting with all who knew the man and his art.

As arts correspondent William Lawrence comments:  “I have met and interviewed hundreds of accomplished artists, from rock stars to the cream of Hollywood’s filmmakers, and yet I treasure my memories of Robert Heindel most of all.”

Includes coverage from Evening Standard, Art of England, Polo Magazine and other publications feature Simon Gudgeon's Isis.

 Read the PDF below or view the videos of the ISIS exhibition in Hyde Park.

The public response to Isis by Simon Gudgeon, includes an interview with Simon

 See the unvailing of Isis by Simon Gudgeon in Hyde Park

This iconic new sculpture is the focal point of a £1.8million fundraising campaign for a new children’s education centre in Hyde Park, launched by the Royal Parks Foundation and Halcyon Gallery. Isis includes a donation box at its base together with 1,000 plaques. Each plaque can be purchased for £1,000, with all proceeds going directly to the project. More than a third of the plaques have already been sold and laid around the base of Isis, and donors can have their own names, or the names of loved ones inscribed.  To date, over £1million has been pledged for the campaign.

‘Meet the Artist’ series at Halcyon Gallery with Isis artist Simon Gudgeon

Thursday 10 September 11am – 7pm

Friday 11 September 11am – 7pm

Saturday 12 September 10am – 5pm

Halcyon Gallery

24 Bruton Street
London
W1J 6QQ

+44(0)20 7659 7640 

www.halcyongallery.com

Isis is the focal point of a £1.8 million fundraising appeal, launched in partnership with Halcyon Gallery, to build a new, eco-friendly education centre at the Look Out in Hyde Park. To help raise the £1.8 million needed to make this vision a reality, the Royal Parks Foundation has collaborated with Halcyon Gallery and artist Simon Gudgeon to create Isis.  The sculpture will have 1,000 plaques inlaid around her base, each one engraved with a personal name and each raising £1,000 for the campaign.  

Park visitors will be able to continue supporting education in Hyde Park through a donation box incorporated in the base of Isis. An exhibition telling the story of Isis’s development and creation can currently be seen at Halcyon Gallery on Bruton Street.  In addition, the gallery will also host a 'Meet the Artist' series with Isis artist Simon Gudgeon giving talks at the Gallery on 10, 11 and 12 September.  This will be an opportunity to meet Simon and to learn more about the project and the story behind Isis at Hyde Park.

Joel Cadbury, Chairman of the Royal Parks Foundation comments: “The 5000 acres of London that make up the Royal Parks, play a huge part in making London such a special City. Through this exciting new form of fundraising, we are confident that we can make a dream of a state of the art Children’s Education Centre in Hyde Park, into a reality.”

Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery comments: ‘Isis has already had an incredible effect on people.  By placing her in Hyde Park as the focal point of this fundraising campaign, she is helping fund the ability for children to be educated in the natural environment, and will continue to be a beacon of hope for future generations.’

The proposed Look Out development will provide a doorway to lead thousands of city children into the natural world, encouraging them to appreciate wildlife and look after the environment.   It compasses an area in the centre of Hyde Park and will replace an existing facility that is cramped and is not suitable for use all year round. The new sustainably-built education centre will have two classrooms and will also provide a base for The Royal Parks’ Education Team and their volunteers, plus the Royal Parks Foundation.  The surrounding area will benefit from new wildlife ponds and nature trails.

Members of the public wishing to make a donation or see their name or that of a loved one engraved on a plaque at Isis in Hyde Park should visit www.royalparksfoundation.org for further information.

Isis is the focal point of a £1.8 million fundraising appeal, launched in partnership with Halcyon Gallery, to build a new, eco-friendly education centre in Hyde Park. The centre will be built at the Look Out and will provide a doorway to lead thousands of city children into the natural world, encouraging them to appreciate wildlife and look after the environment.

To help raise the £1.8 million needed to make this vision a reality, the Royal Parks Foundation has collaborated with Halcyon Gallery and artist Simon Gudgeon to create an iconic new sculpture called Isis, after the goddess of nature. Isis is unveiled on the shores of the Serpentine and will have 1,000 plaques inlaid around her base, each one available to be engraved with a personal name and each raising £1,000 for the Look Out. Park visitors will also be able to support the centre through a donation box incorporated in the base of Isis. An exhibition telling the story of Isis’s development and creation can currently be seen at Halcyon Gallery on Bruton Street.

The proposed Look Out development encompasses an area in the centre of Hyde Park. The existing facilities are cramped and unsuitable for use in the winter months, which limits the number of children who can benefit from classes there. The new sustainably-built education centre will have two classrooms and will be open all year round.  It will also provide a base for The Royal Parks’ Education Team and volunteers, plus the Royal Parks Foundation.  The surrounding area will benefit from new wildlife ponds and nature trails.

Education Officer for The Royal Parks, Nick Lane, explains: “Getting out into the Park is a great learning experience for city kids. The children enjoy over 15 different activities ranging from mini-beast observations, tree studies and the weather cycle, to recycling, birdlife and park occupations.”

Royal Parks Foundation Chairman, Joel Cadbury, says: “Please support the Look Out by pledging your plaque today to allow one of London’s most special places to fulfil its true potential.”

Zac Goldsmith and Trudie Styler & Sting are amongst those who have already dedicated a plaque at Isis in support of the new Look Out education centre.

“The Royal Parks provide some of the most important ecological centres in our country and Hyde Park is one of the least polluted spots in central London. The new Look Out centre will be the perfect place for young people to learn more about the natural world.” says Zac Goldsmith, Trustee of the Royal Parks Foundation.

Members of the public wishing to make a donation or see their name or that of a loved one engraved on a plaque at Isis in Hyde Park should visit www.royalparksfoundation.org for further information.

Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery, who has generously donated Isis says: “We at Halcyon Gallery are incredibly proud to support the development of education in Hyde Park.  The legacy of this wonderful sculpture by Simon Gudgeon will benefit and inspire future generations.”

Read the exclusive preview of Isis by Simon Gudgeon in Hyde park here

This summer, the Royal Parks Foundation, with generous help from Halcyon Gallery, will launch a beautiful new sculpture called Isis on the shores of the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Around her base will curve 1,000 plaques, each costing £1,000 and available for dedication to fathers everywhere.

The £1 million to be raised will help build a fabulous, new, eco-friendly children’s Education Centre in the heart of Hyde Park – an area with reputedly the cleanest air in central London. Surrounded by wildlife ponds and a nature trail, it will provide a doorway for generations of city children to enter the natural world, encouraging them to appreciate wildlife and look after the environment.

Isis, named after the goddess of nature, is the creation of leading artist, Simon Gudgeon. Zac Goldsmith and Trudie Styler & Sting are amongst those who are already supporting the Isis project. “The Royal Parks provide some of the most important ecological centres in our country and Hyde Park is one of the least polluted spots in central London. The new Look Out centre will be the perfect place for young people to learn more about the natural world.” says Zac Goldsmith.

To honour your father with a plaque and see his name inscribed in Hyde Park, please visit www.royalparksfoundation.org

The exhibition will focus on this major new public work, telling the story of its development and creation. It is hoped that Isis in Hyde Park will raise £1million for the new Centre, with 1,000 plaques to be permanently inlaid around the sculpture’s base, each of which can be purchased for £1,000, with all funds going directly to the project.

Isis reveals Gudgeon’s unique signature style, representing the movement and emotion of nature in smooth forms and simple lines, and the exhibition at Halcyon Gallery will showcase several versions of the work, in a wide range of sizes and materials. The exhibition will also feature a number of ambitious recent largescale works by Gudgeon, showcasing a new direction in his work, and a pared down and minimalist approach to his sculpture.

Isis follows the recent success of Sculpture by the Lakes in Pallington, Dorset, a sculpture park opened by Simon Gudgeon in association with Halcyon Gallery in September 2008. Sculpture by the Lakes presents Gudgeon’s works in a beautiful rural setting, across 26 acres of Dorset countryside, bordered by the River Frome.

Simon has attained worldwide recognition in recent years, and exhibited internationally, with highly acclaimed shows in London, New York, San Diego, Paris and the Netherlands. His work features in many important private collections both in the UK and abroad, such as those of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Northumberland.

President of Halcyon Gallery, Paul Green, comments: ‘Simon Gudgeon’s Isis represents the goddess of nature in his uniquely beautiful style. Halcyon Gallery is proud to support the Royal Parks Foundation’s appeal to help children explore the wonders of nature and wildlife in the heart of London. The exhibition will be an opportunity to learn more about the project, as well as displaying the work of one the most talented sculptors working in Britain today.’

Mauro matches social critique with Pop aesthetics in his art, and this newexhibition demonstrates his astonishing technical skill, style and wit. A Pop Artist for the 21st Century, Mauro’s work incorporates familiar icons of today’s culture, from life-sized diamond encrusted Oscar figures to the Statue of Liberty sitting astride a missile.

Both a master craftsman and a social commentator with his finger on the pulse of contemporary society, Mauro produces innovative and beautifully executed work with a message. Doorway to Heaven reveals this approach, as an exquisitely designed door opens to reveal a wall of knives, while his work entitled Press Cuts takes a cynical look at the power of the media, with Claymore swords bearing newspaper mastheads.

Apopalyptic also sees the return of one of the recurring motifs in Mauro’s oeuvre, the jelly baby, which perfectly embodies his style and ethos. Each of these giant figures is perfectly moulded, and composed of light-reflecting resin with an impressive depth of colour. Polyurethane resin is highly unstable, and Mauro has devoted years to manipulating the material, and perfecting a technique which allows him to use the liquid on such a large scale. Although each jelly baby is unique in production, the topical issue of cloning is immediately brought to mind, whether Mauro is depicting members of a family, Buddha or Chairman Mao.

Mauro comments: ‘I have put everything into making art. I hope that people will connect with the messages and ideas in my work - and above all I want to put the ‘art’ back into conceptual art. I am inspired by the Masters, and driven by a desire to continually perfect my process, technique and style.’

Based in London, Mauro has achieved international acclaim in recent years with a range of solo and group shows across Europe.

Apopalyptic will be exhibited at Halcyon Gallery from 7 February to April 2009.

Through Ingravidos, Royo explores a new direction which is larger and grander in scale. The collection is based on the idea of weightlessness and shows a series of female figures suspended or moving through air, floating and falling as if without gravity.

Royo achieves an intense luminosity in his paintings. He has been described as a master of painting with light, creating atmospheric and fantastical scenes that convey great drama and
movement. In Ingravidos Royo has immersed himself in a more spiritual and ethereal sensibility as he explores his subject matter with great passion and energy.

In the words of Spanish art historian Isidre Rosetijuan, “Ingravidos, by Royo, are paintings in a pure state: a creative invention, imaginative and far-seeing. It is the dream of flying, of liberating ourselves from the forces of gravity. It is the dream of becoming lightness personified and, in a certain manner, of becoming unpredictable.”

Based in Valencia, Royo has had a career spanning over five decades, obsessively painting since the age of seven. Over the last 20 years he has attained great success as a fine artist with a worldwide following of admirers and collectors. He has participated in a number of international art fairs and exhibited throughout his native Spain, across Europe, Japan and the United States.

Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery, comments: “Ingravidos is Royo’s first exhibition in Halcyon’s new flagship gallery at 24 Bruton Street and we are privileged to be able to show this collection of works following such an impressive museum tour. This is a unique collection of paintings and their richness and sheer scale will completely transform the gallery space.”

The Drawn Blank Series was launched at Halcyon Gallery, Mayfair, in June 2008 to widespread critical acclaim, and is the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of Bob Dylan’s paintings ever assembled. The Lightbox exhibition will be the first chance to view the works outside London, and the tour will continue in 2009 to Edinburgh’s City Arts Centre.

Dylan has been a committed visual artist for more than four decades, and this collection casts a new light on the creativity of one of the world’s most important and influential figures. The Drawn Blank Series echoes the themes and images of Dylan’s prose, poetry and music, and the paintings are based on sketches made while on the road during the period of 1989 to 1992.

Paul Green, President of Halcyon Gallery commented: ‘The launch of ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ earlier this year at Halcyon Gallery was hugely successful. This museum tour, beginning at ‘The Lightbox’, gives even more people in the UK the chance to view this remarkable body of work.’

One of the most exciting gallery spaces in the South East, The Lightbox was awarded The Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries in May this year; the UK’s largest arts prize. The Lightbox was designed by Marks Barfield Architects and opened to the public in September 2007.

Set in 26 acres of stunning Dorset countryside and bordered by the tranquil River Frome, 'Sculpture by the Lakes' will show over a dozen new large-scale works by Simon Gudgeon. Simon’s signature style is instantly recognisable: smooth, minimalist forms created with clean lines that express both movement and emotion. In these new works, he explores an even more pared down approach to sculpture, creating magnificent abstracted forms of birds and mammals in bronze and stainless steel.

President of Halcyon Gallery, Paul Green, comments: “’Sculpture by the Lakes’ is the perfect location in which to view Simon’s extraordinary work. Visitors to the park will be able to appreciate just how important it is to see sculpture in its intended setting and gain a taste of the exhibition we are holding at Halcyon Gallery with Simon in 2009.”

Simon Gudgeon has exhibited internationally with shows in London, New York, Paris and the Netherlands. His work features in many important private collections both in the UK and aboard, such as those of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Northumberland.