Art
Open house
John McEwen
Stephen Farthing: Roomoramma (The Art Gallery, St Paul's School, Lonsdale Road, SW13, till 9 February)
It is much to the credit of St Paul's School that its gallery, of all the hundreds to London, is surely showing the In°,5,t, interesting exhibition of new work current" to be seen by an English artist. Stephen F31.- thing is 33, an ex-Abbey Major Scholar toPainting at the British School in Rome, and for some time now recognised as one of the brightest of our younger talents. He 1r1,., eludes some drawings from a year or 0'1, back, and one painting that was a prizevail, ner at the last John Moores Liverpool oPellf competition exhibition, but the majoritY 0; the work is new and, in the form of f°I)
large paintings in oil on canvas, proves to be his most ambitious and successful to date.
Farthing's subject is rooms. The rooms are depicted as if the fourth wall, that would otherwise block the spectator's view, has been rendered invisible of all but the objects — pictures, fireplaces or doors — it supports. They hang with their backs (and even nails, where appropriate) facing out, increasing the suspense of the (always) unpeopled room beyond by forcing the viewer into the position of a snooper. The rooms thus snooped on show marked signs of human occupation — stacked dirty dishes, crammed pigeon-holes, a turned-on TV and, in the case of the Roomoram ma series, are filled with bizarre furniture of such eharacterful design that it seems quite capable of dancing into life itself. This series, like a previous one represented here only by the John Moores prizewinner, was Inspired by some descriptions in Balzac (reasonably enough, since he is the most visually precise of all novelists), but Immediately declares its effect with a title that suggests both the theatricality and breadth of dioramas and panoramas, quite apart from the humour implicit in its reference to some jovial Balzacian character who adds `-oramma' to names as a joke. The `Roomorammas' are funny and sinister by turns, as shifting and cluttered in their s. uggestion as in their perspective, variety of Image and paint-handling — from brushed
generalities to pointed details. It is this swashbucklingly confident elaboration of image and pace, as well as a bright use of colour, that distinguishes the latest paint- ings from their impressively spare, grey, but less risky, predecessors.
This new feeling of upping the tempo is most impressively displayed in another large and recent canvas, 'The Nightwatch', which rightly has the end wall to itself. Here Farthing renders the floor invisible as well, presenting a room as if seen diagonally from below. The floorboards may be invisi- ble but not what they hide, and much is indiscreetly made of pipes and the unsightly back of a radiator. A TV is on but the room is empty, indicating that the night-watch- man is on his rounds or, who knows, more desperately engaged. The exposure of the pipes, the inclusion of a clock, equally serve as reminders of the sorts of things that loom large when we are on our own in nerverack- ing circumstances — a gurgle can make us start, time drags. But, invisibly floored and floating in air, the room can also be inter- preted as the imagined product of someone speculating on its character from the room below — in other words it is a painting about painting, a thoughtful subject carried off in a style of swift and seemingly in- tuitive decision. Add a selection of pastel drawings in bold and, in several cases, even brighter colour, and you have an exemplary show. The gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, closed Saturdays and Sundays.
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