The Making of Abstraction

Abstract painting began as a rejection of representation and explanation. It aimed to remove image and narrative in order to focus on structure, material, and decision. Over time, abstraction shifted away from fixed systems and became a practice defined by uncertainty, repetition, and risk.

Today, to work abstractly is a deliberate and exposed commitment. It privileges sensation, intuition, and bodily decision over explanation. It accepts the absence of clear meaning and remains open to failure.

The exhibition brings together both historic pioneers of Abstraction and their contemporaries who continue to develop and push the boundaries of how Abstraction is perceived today. Alongside the paintings, a concrete object directly connected to each artist’s practice is presented: the workbench. Marked by traces of colour, tools, and use, it is not shown as documentation but as a physical counterpart to the painting itself.

Removed from its functional role and placed within the exhibition space, the workbench becomes an object that holds evidence of decision, hesitation, repetition, and commitment. It does not explain the painting. Instead, it exposes the conditions under which abstraction continues to be made.

The exhibition functions as a form of research into abstract painting, while refusing neutrality. It asks what it means to continue this practice today, and what remains at stake when artists choose feeling over explanation.

Please join us for our private view on Wednesday 7 October 2026 from 6pm till late.

The exhibition is open by appointment from Thursdays to Sundays 12 to 6pm.

Exhibiting artists:

Albert Irvin

Betsy Bradley

Mali Morris

Scott Licznerski