Kenneth Blackburn, 'Selected Works'

About

Kenneth Blackburn’s paintings combine richly coloured pigment and plaster, sometimes with sections of etched metal to create a multi layered textured surface. In the process of their making, these paintings aspire to drawing in that they are experimental, conceptual and immediate. Heavily textured and at times monolithic, they appear as architectural constructions. Forms and motifs protrude from the surface while other areas recede into an expressive landscape. Kenneth's work represents an outpouring of energy juxtaposed with calmer more meditative surfaces that are inviting to the touch.

Blackburn has at times made reference to inspirations of the northern landscape that surrounds him, or features of the urban landscape such as derelict industrial walls, but often he just allows his paintings develop in their own individual and natural way, and allows the work to come to fruition through the works’ construction. The alchemical process involved of mixing, grinding, recycling and applying wet pigmented plaster is important in understanding Kenneth Blackburn's work, for the layering process shows a respect for history and tradition.

Born in 1951, Kenneth Blackburn has been showing at Curwen & New Academy regularly since 1996 after being discovered from his degree show at University of Central Lancashire and he was invited him to take part in Curwen Gallery's  ‘Northern Graduates’ exhibition. He has completed large scale commissions for corporate collections, and his work also features in many private collections.