4th – 26th February 2005

This February the Bernard Jacobson Gallery will offer the opportunity to see a survey of the work of Marc Vaux. For the past 45 years Vaux has shown a commitment to a particular strand of abstract painting, which, despite its hard edge and minimalist appearance is based upon an exploration of colour and light.

Vaux’s work first garnered attention in 1960 when as part of the Situation Group he appeared in three important exhibitions showcasing the work of a group of young British painters who had rejected the very English semi abstraction of the St Ives generation and the emotional dramatics of American abstract expressionism. These painters made large abstracts that echoed experiences neither of nature, whether lyrical or dramatic, nor of the individual soul. They appeared impersonal. Some resembled architecture, others large typographical inventions.

Vaux subsequently appeared in many group exhibitions throughout Europe and had a two-man exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1972 with his then wife Tess Jaray.

Vaux’s painting at the time was on canvas and typically features a hard edge structure along with some gestural element. Later he would dispense entirely with the gestural element.

More recently Vaux has been constructing his paintings in aluminium and MDF, using coloured strips of wood, which reflect upon the neutral surfaces of the work. The length of the individual strips is arrived at by using a random number generator. Vaux then chooses the colours in order to give each work its own personality.

Vaux’s work is in many private and public collections including that of the Tate Gallery.

For further information and images please contact Lilly McNeill lilly@jacobsongallery.com or on 020 7734 3431