Diana Archer: From Venice to Alexandria and the paintings along the way

Image courtesy of the artist.

Diana Archer will be presenting her solo show, ‘From Venice to Alexandria and the paintings along the way’, at Gallery150 from 30^th August – 11^th September 2011.

Since graduating from Birmingham College of Art, Diana has combined her art career with teaching in colleges and schools as far afield as Italy and Greece; she is art tutor for Dramart Productions, and also runs her own creative work-shops.

The paintings on show at Gallery150 cover a specific period of travel in Diana’s life, which has also been a time where the artist has been developing different ways of expressing her spiritual experiences along the road through paint.

Fascinated with the Sacred Feminine, the Goddess and the Mary energy, the artist’s journey  has led her to explore the religious icons of ancient churches and sites in Cyprus (where it is said St. Paul once preached), and experience the pull of Alexandria across the sea from Paphos, evoking thoughts of Alexandra the Great and the great library of Pharos.

Often, these figurative works superimpose religious iconography onto the female body, almost like tattoos, but more recently the artist has begun to use more simple, abstracted techniques, which allude to ‘devotion’.

“Venice has played a huge part in allowing me to reach out to these energies of the past and much of the art work expresses my interest in ‘Byzantium’ imagery and also the sheer brilliance of Venetian coloured glass .I believe that to draw and paint leads to inner knowledge and truth.

These paintings are not out to shock or to frighten but instead, attempt a new style of modern art; challenging perhaps, with its willingness to calm and enrich the onlooker in a troubled age.”

Run and showcased by Leamington Studio Artists (LSA), Gallery150 is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.

The private view will be held on 30^th August from 7-9pm.

Gallery150, Regent Court Shopping Parade, 9 Livery Street, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 4NP. www.gallery150.co.uk