Amongst the less desirable characters that populate South London parks on moonlit nights, you may be surprised to come across artist Annette Hamley-Jenkins (with her loyal tea wallah) frantically scribbling away, recording the tonal impressions of landscapes at night, as well as something less tangible: ”Paintings are like poems, more than the sum of their parts. The subject may be Mitcham, but what I aim to express is how it makes me feel to sit and gaze upon it at night.”
You will be able to judge for yourself if Annette is successful from the 1st of October, because Locale of East Dulwich will be showing her paintings for the next two months as part of a rolling exhibition featuring local artists - many of Annette’s paintings depict places within striking distance of Crystal Palace, and she has taken part in the Dulwich Festival for the last three years, exhibiting as part of Dulwich Open House.
Her art is at heart mimetic, but alongside the landscapes and large scale objet trouvé you will also find paintings on mytho-psychological themes in which the canvas is used as if it were the physical boundary of the imagination, and figures appear to be interacting with the surface of the painting itself.
Of course, anyone who has eaten at Locale will know that they are just as serious about the quality of their food as they are about the quality of the art on their walls, so this really is an opportunity to take the time to enjoy both, simultaneously.
Annette Hamley-Jenkins is at Locale until the end of November 2011
Locale, 58-60 East Dulwich Road, London, SE22 9AX. Tel: 020 7732 7575
Don’t forget: Live Opera at Locale on 12 October 2011
