Neil Farber: Table Cream

About

Pippy Houldsworth is delighted to present Neil Farber's second solo exhibition in London of new paintings Table Cream from 29 May to 27 June. Apart from his individual practice, Farber is also one of the original members of the Royal Art Lodge (alongside Marcel Dzama and Michael Dumontier), the well known artists' collective from Winnipeg, Canada. Farber now brings us a new cast of characters whilst developing a wider visual vocabulary in these seductively rendered paintings. He continues to probe our modern neuroses, with no subject safe from his critical and mocking eye. Relationships, religion and community become the focus of the artist's wit with each work serving as a contemporary fable, but reminding us of our inherent folly. At first sight, these works may appear childlike and innocent, but deep emotions and a dark humour smoulder under the rich three-dimensional surfaces. Working with oil and mixed media on panel whilst eschewing the delicate watercolours on paper of past years, Farber builds up each work with layers of rich glazes and painterly mark making. Central to the exhibition is Fosston Reunion, a ten-panel composition recalling the actual event of the same name that occurred in 1990. Fosston, a tiny hamlet where the artist grew up, was at the time mostly inhabited by retired farm workers. The former residents of Fosston and its neighbouring farms returned for a weekend bringing the otherwise sleepy and forgotten town back to life. Fosston Reunion captures the strange assembly in a 'family photo', a happy and jubilant reunion of the local community and reunited friends.