PETER JOYCE

London Exhibition 2011

Anthony Hepworth Fine Art Dealers

21st – 26th March, Gallery 27, Cork Street W1

Followed by

29th March – 16th April, 1 Campden Street, Kensington W8

PRESS RELEASE

Peter Joyce's grand solo exhibition of 2011 has been organised by Anthony Hepworth, his

dealer of more than 20 years. This London exhibition has in fact been divided between two

locations. The first week sees the major collection of the new paintings exhibited at Gallery

27 in Cork Street, with the final three weeks, consisting of mainly smaller works and stud-

ies, being held at Anthony Hepworth Fine Art Dealers, Campden Street in Kensington.

This large exhibition will consist of works inspired and derived from various aspects of the

extraordinary marshland landscape which is all around our remote home in the Marais

Breton Vendéen in western France. We are fortunate to live just 100 metres from a totally

wild coastline and surrounded by more than 250 square kilometres of salt and freshwater

marsh.

Four small intimate ports, which harbour just a few oyster boats each, break the long

stretch of coastline. Full of charm, all have several low level sheds for sorting shellfish and

old, often dilapidated, jetties reaching out into the tidal inlets. These quirky places are a

constant source of inspiration. The wider marsh has its character defined by whether the

pervading water is fresh or salty. The marsh is a haven for all sorts of abundant wildlife

which become a constant distraction! Abandoned salt pans are a reminder that the area

around the small town of Bouin (a former island) was once the centre of a larger salt pro-

ducing industry, these days it's oysters that earn the locals keep. The Bay of Bourgneuf

creates the perfect environment in which oysters need to develop and a kilometre or so

from the shore, sacks of small oysters lay patiently on low metal tables for the tide to wash

over them. The marsh is not easy to traverse on foot, unless one knows were the next

ramshackled bridge of planks crosses a creek, progress can be very slow.

Mapping the land has become a bit of an obsession for Peter and his regular walks out

across the marsh have themselves become the subject of many a painting. We live on a

former islet, ʻLa Coupelasse', our home and detached studio are visible from miles around

as one winds around the lanes at just above sea level.

The Cork Street exhibition will house some very big paintings, up to eight foot across in

fact (near 2.5m), together with smaller works on paper, board, wood panel and canvas.

Peter's own studio with its large windows give fantastic vistas across the marsh to the

shore, but it's the paintings around the walls which draw the attention. These new works

are full of weather, they are more ʻseasonal' than ever before, but as with the earlier Dor-

set work, they still have a strong sense of place.

Bouin is a quiet place and although the surrounding marshland is vast, very few homes

exist on the often flooded land. It is a land which time forgot, the locals are the latest from

a long line of descendents and knowledge of how to live in a such a unique landscape has

been passed down along the line. The moon and the tides run the community, everyone

has a rare understanding and appreciation of the land, this knowledge is another source of

inspiration to Peter who is always keen to learn whilst sharing a drink and a chat with

these ʻmaraichin' people. They are equally as keen to impart their knowledge on this curi-

ous outsider. We are the only ʻoutsiders' in this extraordinary place and something of a

novelty with our strange accents and artistic ways.

Peter's paintings find their way to very different worlds from the one in which they were

made, and critics from as far away as Australia write about the work. Peter exhibits regu-

larly in the UK and in the USA and although he planned to resist showing in France he was

approached by one of France's top galleries just months after moving here.

It is with much toil, time and consideration that these landscapes are researched and

these beautiful paintings made, personally I eagerly await seeing them exhibited altogether

and I hope you can join us too.

For a full colour exhibition catalogue or any further information please contact Anthony

Hepworth www.anthonyhepworth.com

(Taken from Press Release by Jo Joyce, January 2011)

Illustrated: Peter Joyce - ʻStudy for Marsh Walk' 2010 , Acrylic on Board 20 x 31 cm