DAVID Winfield has been an artist for more than 50 years. In any room of mid to late 20th century British artists, there will be few he was not either taught by or with, studied with, or taught himself.
This show explores terrain that has been a creative focus for many years, the varied landscape of one farm stretching northwards from the centre of Thirsk.
Change is reflected at several levels in paintings notable for richness of colour and wealth of detail. Variation comes from the seasons – spring with the yellows of oil seed rape, autumn's red and russet hues – and changes in particular wrought by the felling of mature woodland.
Echoes of the destruction on the Somme – in our minds 100 years later – finds expression in paintings of the cleared ground. A previous generation left depressions now filled with water and known as The Brickponds. These inspired fine paintings expressing the interaction between light, water and landscape.
In this exhibition the artist achieves maturity of expression, with light, colour and line all working together.
The paintings are interspersed with lighthearted constructions of weird, but oddly realistic insects made from found objects, a piece of dried fungus, a horse chestnut shell, a lost dog's ball, combined with odd bits of rusted wire.
There are humanoid heads made from shards of timber, a piece of frayed wood becoming a moustache. A plastic bottle becomes, with a piece of twig, an elegant flower.
For this aspect of his work, betrayal would be completing a construction with something he went out and bought. Inspiration comes from random finds reimagined into new forms and meaning. The exhibition runs until November 19.
Chris Purser
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