Black – Red Side Alan Green

The artist living now in Wales appeared in the ’70s as one of the most intriguing young British abstract painters. After graduation he immediately came in touch with the Galerie de France artists in Paris (Bazaine, Bissière, Estève), and later came to be attracted by the American abstract movements (Ad Reinhard). Since 1964, he has been preoccupied by the problem of edges and margins. At first he chiefly made reliefs and painted wooden surfaces. Since 1975, he makes two-part diptychs and small painted panels in which the main role is played by colour and the direct sensuality of the paint. In his works, form and colour are one and inseparable, each picture being the outcome of an independent experiment within a mature scale of form and colour. In 1978, he replaced acrylic with oil paint, which influenced the essence of picture creation besides the working method. Instead of the former rapid execution, slow deliberated spiritualism gains greater stress. His works are study models created from elementary contrasts. The reduced form, the shift of the painting towards an object produce a sensuous surface containing the lively texture of painterly gestures. The immediate closeness to the works reveals the true emotional richness of the work surface.

Ferenc Tóth