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The Jersey-born artist behind the iconic Occupation tapestry is embracing the concept of "less is more" in his latest exhibition, featuring five shades of grey.
Wayne Audrain's ‘Balancing Acts – The Idealism of Geometry’, which is on display at Private and Public until 8 November, features a series of paintings exploring minimalism and geometry through a restricted palette, punctuated by flashes of colour.
It follows a previous series of similar work that was entirely monochromatic. “I just wanted it to be less structured… the work I did before was very monotone. I wanted to do something different,” Wayne explained.
His most recent body of work, which he painted over the last 12 months, explores once again the ideas of aesthetic harmony, unity and symmetry.
Pictured: ‘Balancing Acts – The Idealism of Geometry’ is at Private & Public until 8 November.
But this time, Wayne has added some oranges, blues, reds, greens and yellows amid the different shades of grey.
“I work with five different types of grey,” Wayne said. “When they are next to each other, they fight, they activate each other. Playing with different tones also creates another tone.”
Explaining the reasons behind his seemingly restricted colour palette, the Jersey-born artist said he believes it is more creative and challenging to focus on a few colours. “It can be distracting if there are too many colours,” he added.
This carefully selected palette fits in with Wayne’s penchant for minimalism and abstraction. “I do believe in less is more,” he explained.
Pictured: All of Wayne's paintings are based on a grid.
Abstraction is however just one of the many things Wayne works with. “I have been making art since I can hold a pencil,” said Wayne. “I make all sorts of art. I believe in whatever you are trying to say with art has to be reflected in the medium.”
After leaving school at 17, Wayne worked as a designer. For 24 years, he worked at Jersey Heritage as Head of Design, during which time he designed the Occupation Tapestry.
It wasn’t until his 50s that he studied art, first at Plymouth University, then at the Pratt Institute in New York, where he recently completed a Master in Fine Art.
The paintings in ‘Balancing Acts’ are all based on a grid, which Wayne adapted to different scales, from a large, wall-covering display inspired by the horizon to smaller square shapes.
The grid lies at the heart of contemporary art which came to prominence in the early 20th century in the abstractions of Russian painter Kazimir Malevich and the Dutch-born Piet Mondrian.
Pictured: Wayne with Private & Public Director, Chris Clifford.
Chris Clifford, Director of Private & Public, described Wayne Audrain’s work as “resting firmly within a minimalist or ‘concrete’ tradition.”
“Perhaps the best way I can describe this exhibition is that it’s filled with works of passionate constraint,” Mr Clifford added.
“Wayne Audrain is now at the pinnacle of his artistic career having completed his Master in Fine Art at the incredibly prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and it gives me enormous pleasure to present what is unquestionably his most historic exhibition to date.
“ I sincerely hope that the public will visit our gallery spaces for the two-week duration of this exhibition and I would personally like to thank the artist for his good humour, kind nature and warm enthusiasm in making this such a spectacular tribute to minimalist painting."
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