Galleries - July 2010

THUMB nails 12. GALLERIES JULY 10 Joseph Yoakum’s hauntingly rhythmic, curvilinear landscapes are infused with elements, creatures and symbols from his mixed African American and Native American background ( Mayor Gallery ). As a young man, Yoakum (1890-1972) explored the U.S. with railroad circuses, hobo-ed across Canada, stowed away on cargo ships. What he saw then was recalled in around 2,000 visionary drawings made in later years, when for many young American artists, he became a Rousseau or Wallis-like figure of marvellously pure imagination. Philip Vann Joseph Yoakum ‘Mt. Victoria on Bengal Bay’ One of an emerging group of young Cornish-based landscape-oriented painters, Judy Buxton has established a distinct niche for herself with powerful, painterly and often turbulent interpretations of the land- and sea-scapes close to her home on The Lizard. This new show, of some 30 or so works drawn from the last two years, marks her debut at Thackeray , a comparatively intimate space and one within which Bux- ton’s expansive, light and air-filled canvases will surely make for a re- markable physical experience. ’ Judy Buxton ‘Light on the Sea (Winter)’ In its fusion of Blake’s visionary mysticism and Turner’s intense Romanticism with an acute understanding of European Expression- ism, Norman Adams’ art was unparalleled in late 20th C. British art, his death in 2005 a significant loss to the art of our time. A retrospective show, drawn from his own studio, at the University of Northumbria Gallery in 2007 was a revelation even to those who thought they knew his work and this new display, based substantially on it, at King’s Place , will mark a first London retrospective. Not to be missed. Norman Adams ‘Winter Thrush’ 1982 Born and brought up in a remote North Wales village, the landscape of the region has always been deeply imbued in Steven Jones’ artistic imagination, so much so that he gave up a very successful career as an illustrator in London in the 80s to come back to live and paint in it. His latest show of some 140 canvases, at Oriel Ynys Mon , the outcome of having spent the last 4 years painting the 125 miles long Anglesey Coastal Path, conveys a wonderfully vivid sense of the drama and excitement of the walks he undertook there. Steven Jones ‘Porthwen Bay’ Nicholas Usherwood