Charles Zuill

Beauty is a fundamental human need, albeit one that is often overlooked, but at the peril of diminished living. Beauty is a conveyor of joy.

The current exhibition in the Rick Fairies Gallery at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art is one of a gentle beauty.

Its primary feature is that of colour, muted colour. The title if the show is: Yellow Felt Tip. The artist is Abi Box.

The exhibition consists of twelve paintings, all rectangular and of similar size. None are very large or all that tiny.

The artist’s way of painting is one of layered forms and colours, one on top of the other in scumbles of dry acrylic paint.

This method of painting allows that which is beneath to show through the haze of that which is above.

This gives these paintings a sense of depth, while at the same time respecting the surface, the flatness of these paintings.

Additionally, the artist has given each painting a catchy title, such as Beach Bum, or Mint Choc, Chip.

The titles, while suggesting a subject, never is so explicit as to be definite, nevertheless, they give a sense of mood.

To me they say summertime, picnics, beach parties and so on.

I am reminded of the atmosphere depicted in many impressionist paintings, even though her manner of painting is a far cry from Impressionism.

The artist Abi Box hails from the UK, from Yorkshire. She is a graduate of the Camberwell College of Art in London, and has been living here in Bermuda for the past five years.

One of the fascinating aspects of seeing art about Bermuda as seen through fresh eyes, through eyes from another landscape, is how that vision helps us locals also see the beauty of our island in new ways.

This is an exhibition that is joyous and I think you, the general public will also enjoy it too. It continues through May 17 at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art