One Thing Leads To Another: The Paintings Of Stewart Geddes

Stewart Geddes, 'Vellanoweth', (Media & Date Unknown).

As I've remarked before, it's all about making connections.  A couple of posts back, I mentioned artist and writer Stewart Geddes in relation to an interview he conducted with painter Albert Irvin [1.].  I came across that, purely by accident, after an impulse purchase of 'Turps Banana' Magazine.  A little more research revealed that he is, indeed, the same Stewart Geddes who was in the year above me on the Fine Art course at Bristol Polytechnic, back in the 80s, and also turned up his website featuring his impressive paintings and photographs.

Stewart Geddes, 'Praa', (Media & Date Unknown).

Stewart was a cheerful presence and a positive influence around the studios at Bower Ashton and stood out as seriously committed to his work, at a time when some of us were mostly dithering about without much of a clue.  Thinking back, he was actually part of a fairly impressive year including several other students who were already producing much stronger, more ambitious work than I could aspire to just then.

Stewart Geddes, 'Cascade Of Dissolution', (Media & Date Unknown).

Stewart Geddes, 'Choone', (Media & Date Unknown).

I also remember that Stewart had already taken on a little teaching work, even at that early stage, and that he drove something, (possibly an old Austin 1300?), called ‘Ghengis Car’.  I spent an enjoyable Christmas Day in his shared Redland flat one year and was impressed to find that, when we returned on Boxing Day to finish off the leftovers, Stewart was already back at work with his painting.  At the time, he was producing pleasing, scrubby paintings of Bristol’s architecture and crazily angled streets.  They were primarily tonal but full of delightful nuance within their very muted palette.  The dry, broken brushwork felt redolent of aging masonry and crumbling render.

Stewart Geddes, 'Still', (Media & Date Unknown).

Reading his online C.V., it comes as little surprise that Stewart went on to carve out an impressive-sounding career as a painter, writer and educator and has exhibited on numerous occasions.  In contrast, I lost belief in any abilities I may have had, spending several years going nowhere slowly, before eventually finding some kind of ham-fisted outlet for my own creative impulses within a purely commercial arena.  Throughout that period, I always had the sense there was something I’d forgotten to do.  It’s something that, thankfully, is now being rectified as my own work has gradually achieved a renewed momentum albeit rather late in the day.  I now recognise that, (as Stewart probably knew all along), confidence, belief and a determination to stick in for the long haul, are the most valuable assets any artist can possess.

Stewart Geddes, Untitled Photograph, (Date Unknown).

Stewart Geddes, 'Circulation', (Media & Date Unknown).

So, it is pleasing to discover that there are some correspondences between the concerns in Stewart’s current paintings and photographs, and some of my own.  I won’t pretend my own work gets anywhere near the refinement and accomplishment of his but, clearly, we both share an enthusiasm for degraded surfaces, (both in paintings and the wider world), text fragments, graphic motifs and compositional geometry.  Like me, he is obviously also a connoisseur of tattered advertising hoardings.  Stewart’s work displays a sophisticated and highly seductive facility with colour and the kind of compositional courage that comes from years of diligent picture making.

Stewart Geddes, Untitled Photograph, (Date Unknown).

I take encouragement from his stated belief in the idea of 'simple and strongly designed paintings'.  I’m also interested to see that, after years of observing and responding to his surroundings directly, he has arrived at an essentially abstract place that still refers to them obliquely.

Stewart Geddes, 'Balnoon', (Media & Date Unknown).

Who knows?  If I’m granted another twenty or thirty years, perhaps I’ll get somewhere near that level myself…

[1.]:  'Stewart Geddes In Conversation With Bert Irvin', London, 'Turps Banana', Issue 13, Spring 2013