The current exhibition at the Telegraph Gallery, New Positions in British Painting, is slowly coming to an end. You will be able to see it for the last time on 23 November, when a final guided tour with curator Jan Kudrna will also take place from 6pm.
But you don't have to say goodbye to the exhibition entirely, as the latest publication, available to buy from the Telegraph's reception or our e-shop, is the catalogue of the same name, reflecting the work of five artists - Tom Anholt, Jessie Makinson, Justin Mortimer, David Brian Smith and Caroline Walker - as representatives of the current direction of British painting.
The photographs for this catalogue (as well as for some of the previous catalogues) were taken by Matěj Doležel. In the pages of the publication, you can first see all the works in their portrait, frontal capture, followed by photographs of the authentic arrangement of the works in the Telegraph exhibition space, where you can observe how the images of each artist coexist, correspond and communicate.
The text of the catalogue was provided by the exhibition's curator Jane Neal herself. She first opens in the opening lines with an interesting take on the subject of art in the locality. The particular place and conditions have always shaped the unique and inimitable atmosphere of the artworks, as well as largely stimulating the choice of themes, generating the need to touch on pressing social issues and often being the starting point for the artist's life or technical stance. Jane Neal goes on to touch on the distinctive elements in the work of each of the five painters. Thus, she mentions the depiction of magical and exotic places in Tom Anholt's work, the lyrical and sensual "darkly erotic" work of Jessie Makinson, and the apocalyptic visions enriched by Justin Mortimer's inner philosophy, which often reaches the limits of abstract formlessness. In David Brian Smith's case, it is again a predilection for combining painting with textile work - the artist seems to embroider his works rather than paint them. Caroline Walker then represents intimate, feminine themes in her realistic - photography-inspired - large-scale canvases, where she lets us glimpse women's lives in their hardship and beauty.
