This comprises of a site specific installation of thirty-three canvases in our new exhibition space in rural Hampshire, and an exhibition of new work in the gallery in London.
In conjunction with this exhibition, we have published a book entitled 'Temporary', with a monograph by Ian Massey. This new body of work comes within a period of rapid growth in Lock's career. It feels like an inflection point. The themes of language, time, presence and absence are ever present in Lock's work but they reach a real synthesis in Tempo.
'The metaphysical aspect of Lock's work has gained in complexity as his painting has evolved. Whereas early on it could be seen to allude to the spiritual in nature, it is often now more mysterious, its resonances less easy to define.In much of the work there is a sense of implied presence; that of the artist's own body certainly, but also of things altogether more abstract that relate to points of transition in life, and perhaps in death.'–Ian Massey
Lock sees this exhibition as more of an installation by curating curating the flow and energy, by changing their sequence. They work like a set of component parts organised to create a whole experience.
'The scale of this work has changed everything; it came from a sense of wanting to extend beyond the paintings edge, to lose any constriction or to be controlled by the canvas'
–Sam Lock
The title of the show 'Tempo' reflects the rhythm or current created by the paintings - the scale of the work came from a sense of wanting to extend beyond the paintings edge, to lose any constriction or to be controlled by the canvas.
Sam Lock paints viscerally. Using blowtorches and sanders as well as the brush, he sees each canvas as a battlefield. Sanded, stained, scorched, and sealed, each work is the result of a continuous cycle of making–a repeated process of building up and destruction. The works have an elusive feeling, revealing layers of past images and tones that drop in and out of themselves. This sense of painterly archaeology brings attention to the movement of the mind and the residue of action, and the pervading sense of unpredictability. The physicality of Lock's process is evident throughout his paintings. His expansive gestures and sweeping movements on a monumental scale as well as his smaller works, where marks made by the movement of the wrist are added to paper, translate into an energetic artistic presence visible throughout his works.
Cadogan is an independent contemporary art gallery with spaces in London, Hampshire and Milan. For over forty years our mission has been to represent, support and curate the work of a diverse roster of emerging and established artists. We care deeply about longevity, developing the careers of our artists and the journey of our collectors.
