Coates and Scarry announce Infinite Forest, an exhibition of new paintings by British painter Lisa Wright
Coates and Scarry announce Infinite Forest, an exhibition of new paintings by British painter Lisa Wright. These paintings result from and are informed by the figurative sculptural works in her outdoor public commission, Future Forest, a collaborative project with Tom Piper MBE, which opens on 4 October 2019 in Thetford Forest and marks the Forestry Commission’s centenary year.
This dramatic sculptural installation at Suffolk’s High Lodge in Thetford Forest features ten life size figures based on classical motifs and representing custodians of the past looking over our forests. They will be displayed in a series of dramatic settings designed by Tom Piper MBE (famed for the installation of Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London) which will act as a stage, setting up a dialogue between each figure and its forest environment. The installation reflects the vital role that trees and woodlands play in protecting our natural environment and the next generation’s role as custodians of our forests.
The works in Infinite Forest from Coates & Scarry are a continuation of what Wright refers to as her ‘inner landscape’ series; figurative works that embody natural landscapes, encompassing fauna, trees, sky. They draw our attention back to nature and remind us of our responsibility to protect Earth’s ecosystem.
Lisa Wright is recognised for her distinctive figurative paintings that explore the physical and emotional state of childhood and adolescence. Her work is informed by subtle references to historical painting. Abstract sensibilities are upheld by masterly draughtsmanship and painterly use of colour, liberal and seductive in its application and brushwork, enhancing the emotional impact of her often large scale works.
Art critic Lizzy Lloyd summarised Wright’s paintings in her catalogue introduction to The Unversed, 2015, by writing “When Wright cedes total control of her image and her paint, the work begins to take hold of you not by its staged loveliness but by its ineffable strangeness.”
Since completing her post graduate studies at the Royal Academy Schools London in 1992, Wright’s paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally with solo presentations in London, New York, Hong Kong, Basel and Miami. Notable awards include The NOA Prize, The Hunting Art Prize and the 2013 Threadneedle Prize. In 2012 Wright was invited to be an Academician of The Royal West of England Academy.
Wright’s appointment as the Royal Shakespeare Company artist in residence throughout the two year period of the RSC’s acclaimed ‘Histories’ cycle of plays culminated in exhibitions at the Roundhouse Theatre as the plays were performed, and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Arts London. The work is held in many important private and corporate collections including Unilever, Linklaters and AstraZeneca.
The installation ‘Future Forest’ is commissioned by Forestry England to celebrate their centenary and has been produced by Parker Harris.
