David Tremlett’s artistic practice, developed after his formal training at Falmouth School of Art, Birmingham College of Art and the Royal College of Art, is characterised by a critical examination of what sculpture and indeed art could be; an interest in the creative process of making, rather than focusing on a final result. Tremlett refers to his work as objects, flat sculpture, rather than images which, for him, imply illusion. His compositions typically consist of abstract forms, abstract arrangements of arcs, circles, trapezoids, text and line – formal constructs which emanate a joy of colour.

For Ikon, Tremlett has transformed the second floor galleries with geometric shapes, applied directly to the walls using pastel pigment and engine grease. Each of the three rooms contains a separate drawing playing off the volumes of architectural space, retuning our perception of them. The first is covered with a dramatic composition of red, blue, black and grey vertical rectangles, based on observations of high-rise buildings and city landscapes the artist made while in Japan. The second, described by Tremlett as the ‘hinge’ between the two larger spaces, is a drawing with diagonals of grey paint and black graphite grease, whilst the final room features horizontal bands of earth-like colours, a scheme first conceived but unrealised for the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management, Russia.

Like all of Tremlett’s wall drawings, the installation was planned with meticulous detail, taking more than two weeks to complete, with the artist and his assistants applying the colour painstakingly by hand.

“As you enter each room the effect is seductively disorientating. Slabs of black and white are visually punctuated by geometric passages of primary colour.” The Guardian

A newssheet publication, containing photography of the installation in progress and complete and an interview with David Tremlett and Jonathan Watkins, Ikon Director, accompanies the exhibition. Price £1.

David Tremlett’s exhibition 3 Drawing Rooms is supported by The Abbey Harris Mural Fund.