NEW PAINTINGS BY MATTHEW KENTMANN
Sophie Gannon Gallery
24 May 2022 – 11 Jun 2022
Exultation is the going
Of an inland soul to sea,
Past the houses—past the headlands—
Into deep Eternity—
Bred as we, among the mountains,
Can the sailor understand
The divine intoxication
Of the first league out from land?
By Emily Dickinson
Who among us has not looked to the sky and thought of flying like a bird, gliding through space unshackled from our earthbound state? Despite the fact that it is held as tightly within the cycle of survival as any creature, the bird's capacity to soar at will has made it an eternal subject of human fascination; a motif of beauty and freedom that painters, composers and poets across the ages have been drawn to.
Two decades of experience in life drawing, his skilfulness and sound judgment as a draftsman and painter have equipped Kentmann to weave a beautiful illusion, catching birds mid-swoop as they approach or wheeling away with undersides exposed. The artist has looked for that angle, that moment, in which the bird's action becomes a painterly form, giving him full scope to compose with shape and expressive colour.
Excerpt from essay by Joe Frost
Matthew KentmannDescend 2022oil on linen102 x 92 cm$3,600.00
Matthew KentmannArc 2022oil on linen31 x 36 cm●●
Matthew KentmannSilver Gulls 2022oil on linen92 x 102 cm●●
Matthew KentmannAscend 2022oil on linen31 x 36 cm●●
Matthew KentmannSilver Gull 2022oil on linen36 x 31 cm●●
Matthew KentmannSoar 2022oil on linen102 x 92 cm$3,600.00
Matthew KentmannRaven 2022oil on linen51 x 46 cm●●
Matthew KentmannSilver Lining 2022oil on linen36 x 31 cm●●
Matthew KentmannFreshwater 2022oil on linen46 x 82 cm$3,600.00
Matthew KentmannUplifted 2022oil on linen51 x 92 cm$3,600.00
