This month we have three unique and exciting artists on exhibition at The Knapp Gallery in Regents Park, London. ;

Peter Mason
Peter R. Mason is the Post Pop Art Man. Trained as a painter and illustrator he has developed his work through Pop Art and Graphics. He creates portraits and images by recycling postage stamps into pixellated images and portraits. Each stamp represents a pixel. Scale is paramount in viewing and understanding the work as the largest images are 365 cm by 213cm (12ft x 7ft), although he does undertake smaller works. By choosing the everyday objects of postage stamps and placing them so that their usual significance becomes obscure enables the audience to see 'Art' with new eyes. In this case he takes ordinary things and combines them in extraordinary ways.
Pete was born in the West Midlands and during his formative years studied at the College of Art in Stafford. There in 1962 he was awarded the National Diploma in Design in Painting and Lithography. It was at this time that he was influenced by the resurgent Pop Art movement in painting. He particularly admired the works of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
The works are created from thousands of used postage stamps; the largest pieces typically use as many as 20,000 recycled postage stamps. Using either canvas or huge pieces of paper he draws the image he will produce. He divides the surface on which he is working into stamp sized squares, but often uses more than one stamp per grid section. Stamps are sorted by colour, design and postmark pattern. He then begins the process of finding appropriate stamps before cutting and shaping them and finally gluing them to the paper or canvas surface.

View full gallery here.

 

Mariusz Kaldowski
In 1987 Mariusz graduated with MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He is a painter, a print maker and a graphic designer. Since coming to the UK in 1996 he has been busy creating, exhibiting and successfully selling his work. In addition he takes portrait commissions and for instance has been a family portrait painter for a number of years for Fred Olsen (of Fred Olsen Cruise Liners).
Since 2002 he has been an Artist in Residence in Regent's Park. Since 2009 he started working with the National Trust as their resident artist for the South East region. In his landscapes and gardens Kaldowski wants to share with us a unique atmosphere of a moment when he saw a particular view. This was recognised, for instance, by an Award that he received in 2000 for 'Expressing the Essential Spirit of Holland Park'. He had also received other numerous awards, e.g. 2006 - Main Prize Winner - editor's choice 'The Artist Magazine', and in the same year Nina Hosali 1st Price - Free Painters & Sculptors Society. Other prizes include: Winsor & Newton, Pro Arte, Caran D'Arche and Royal Talens awards during yearly Patchings Art Festivals.
In addition to the above, for a number of years, he has been creating paintings that are illustrations to the classical music. In 2000 he completed an enormous (22 metre by 1.5 m) frieze inspired by Vivaldi's music, entitled - "Four Seasons Four Stages of Life", which is shown life as part of the classical performances of Polish National Radio Orchestra and has been featured on Polish National TV. Following this he has recently completed four annexes to this frieze to accompany the Piazzolla's version of the Four Seasons, and was commissioned to prepare a separate triptych to commemorate Year of Chopin in 2010, shown on stage during recitals by prominent pianists, including Piotr Paleczny, Kevin Kenner and Rafal Blechacz. He is currently working on a "National Trust 2012" projects.

View full gallery here.

  

 

 

 

Irina Rumyantseva

As an artist her heart and soul goes into every piece that she creates. When she paints she pours emotions out onto the canvas and conveys the beauty that she sees in everyday life in a way that others can see it to.
When she finishes a piece she is filled with a sense of accomplishment and integrity. Her hope is that others will see this in her work and feel a connection with the art as if the piece is speaking specifically to them. Irina’s process has a certain flow that is smooth and seamless when she works within her own visions and ideas. She begins a piece by staring at the blank canvas until the image forms itself and becomes so clear to her it's as if she has already painted it. She enjoys using heavy body acrylics so that she can add lots of texture and depth to the work giving it an almost 3d effect and feel to it. Irina is influenced by everything she sees, feels and experiences in nature and in everyday life. She enjoys taking inspirations and turning them into more surreal or fantasy like scenes, letting her work tell the story. Irina has always enjoyed painting more moody dark scenes but more recently has really enjoyed introducing more bright and vibrant colours into her art. Irina’s hope is that each piece will speak to the viewer and there is no wrong or right, just as long as it speaks to them, then she feels accomplished.

View full gallery here.