Faces and Places, an Exhibition of The Work of Artist Sue Edwards at Fred Winter Ltd, Stratford-upon-Avon

Warwickshire artist Sue Edwards has a knack of immediately filling the viewer’s head with contradictory ideas about 21st century art, and of another time, not that long ago, when British art challenged many long held  concepts.

That other time in the history of British art was that innovative period from the late 19th century to the outbreak of World War One, a period when some of the finest artists Britain has produced came to the fore, not least those who were trained at the Slade School of Art in London, notably Augustus John and his sister Gwen John. And for me it is the influence of these two now rather overlooked sibling artists that shines through Sue’s work.

As probably the finest portraitist of his generation – and possibly of the 20th century- the Welsh born Augustus John had an extraordinary brush craft that invariably created a wonderful sense of stance and movement, turning even the most lifeless of sitters into characterful pieces of great art;one only has to look at his 1909 portrait of the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and Smith ( which is also full of humour) to get my drift. Sue Edwards has this ability – and wit – and uses it to great effect, although her sitters do look rather more jolly. If you can get to see her portrait of Phillip Walling you will see a wonderful work that encompasses art and humanity.

Sue studied for her degree at Leeds College of Art and was hugely inspired by the Yorkshire artist and teacher Derek Hyatt, who had himself studied at Leeds in the late1940s and early 1950s. Hyatt would return to the Leeds College of Art later in his life to teach.

And if we look at Hyatt’s work we can also see a link with Gwen John, whose flowing,often wild, but always bold landscape work is very much a part of Hyatt’s own work as it is with Sue Edwards’, creating something of a real link with the Slade and its ability to turn out draughtsmen and women who would not only change art but  the way we look at art.

As I’ve observed before it is unavoidable these days not to make comparisons between artists of today and of the past, for the simple reason that so much art has been produced, with a good proportion of it pretty worthless (even art that has been highly venerated in recent years) which will fade into obscurity in the same way that a great deal of second rate literature has done.

Luckily for us some artists have the training and the emotional and intellectual skill to produce art that is – through its inspirations and integrity – wonderfully vivid,heartfelt, and often quite brilliant.

Sue Edwards is one of those artists.

The exhibition Faces & Places runs on the 2nd floor of Fred Winter Ltd until June 2011.