PAINTBOX FINE ART Australian Living Artists

PAINTBOX FINE ART is a brand new gallery with two floors of breathtaking paintings from contemporary award-winning Australian artists. Paintbox provides a beacon of colour and light as the first building in New Kings Road. Nearby at the end of Kings Road, the decor and furnishings precinct attracts a clientele who will appreciate the addition of a fine art gallery. Paintbox owners, Australians Stephen and Anne Watson were sufficiently encouraged by the acceptance in London of their artists' works when they attended the Affordable Art Fair last October to open a permanent gallery here. Newly appointed Gallery Director, Melissa Penrose hails from Canberra where the original Paintbox Fine Art gallery is located.

The Watsons look for excellence in the works they display, seeking the natural talent and unique style which is the mark of a true artist, underpinned by a strong foundation in technique and skill. Many of the works are unmistakably Australian, in particular the landscapes, amongst which Ji Chen's spectacular large-scale impasto paintings demand the viewer's attention. Ji Chen is one of six Chinese-Australian artists in the Paintbox stable. Cultural life in Australia has benefitted from the diaspora of artists and intellectuals who fled China following the tragic events in Tianenmen Square in June 1989. After nearly two decades in Australia, these artists are making a big artistic impact on the community and the Australian art market and are forming an important new movement in Australian art.

Other works such as Dean Home's sumptuous Caravaggio-inspired still lifes and Neil McIrvine's sepia toned photorealist nudes and portraits painted on heavily textured canvases give no hint of their Australian origins. Although there is a good range of sizes in the paintings Paintbox displays, the emphasis is on large works that are suitable for both private and corporate collections. New stock is arriving regularly and a programme of solo exhibitions will commence later in the year.

Paintbox Fine Art

2 New Kings Road

LONDON SW6 4SA

Open every day 11-6

www.paintboxfineart.com

t 020 7731 6430