Notoriously nosh obsessed Notebook blogger The Greedy Git samples the delights on offer at the Cadogan Contemporary on Old Brompton Road. Well, if not food then why not art?

The obstacle with contemporary art is that you don’t know what it is you’re looking for. It’s advantage being the colours, lines, splashes and strokes. You can invest in it – like all art – standing and studying, constructing your opinion.

The Cadogan Contemporary’s Summer Exhibition opened on 5th July, all bright lights and decorative while wicked summer rain darkened South Kensington.

Inside, the Cadogan showcases some of the very best talent in abstract and figurative paintings: carefully constructed squares burnished with dye and a perpendicular cosmological print in oils. Downstairs, Charles William’s quirky I Know That Nelly Loves Me (oil on canvas) shows an afro-lady in aqua bra undressing a younger man.

Speaking with the artists, I’m given a running commentary. I’m here for the aesthetics and not the business. Most of the works appear to be rich with decoration and inherently sensual. There’s a consideration and delicacy to the colours. It could be reflective of the artist’s mood at the time of creation or possibly an experiment in the pairings of colour.

None would appear to beam out an image. Instead, there’s something more respectful to the viewer. They draw you in and ask to be considered, studied, and questioned.
While Chilean artist Maria Luisa Hernandez (Timeless, oil on linen) explores landscapes and her surroundings in cerulean, tans and amber, American Elise Ansel’s works are alive with sweeping brushstrokes and provocative colours (Ritz Crackers, oil on linen).

Finnish artist Maiju Tirri pays particular attention to the outside world, using colours reflective of her Scandinavian heritage. Calm Illusion (mixed media on canvas) is ashen and chalky and holds something harmonious, while her Dreamer print (mixed media) is a highlight (hence it’s positioning by the entrance and above the staircase).

The Cadogan Contemporary – Summer Exhibition runs until 3rd September 2011.

Cadogan Contemporary
87 Old Brompton Road
London
SW7 3LD
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 5451
Email: info@cadogancontemporary.com

OPENING HOURS:
10am until 6pm, Monday to Saturday

By David J Constable

@davidjconstable