In Turners Wake: Contemporary Visions – Jake Wood - Evans

The largest display of original works by J.M.W. Turner ever shown at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, alongside contemporary paintings by Jake Wood-Evans. About The largest display of original works by J.M.W. Turner ever shown at The Historic Dockyard Chatham will go on view alongside the evocative paintings of Jake Wood-Evans, in a major new exhibition bridging 19th-century mastery with the contemporary art world. In Turner's Wake explores and re-contextualises the legacy of Britain's most celebrated 'painter of light' through an exciting creative response by Wood-Evans, whose own contemporary oil paintings are presented in direct dialogue with Turner's historic influence. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to view Turner's Medway Sketchbook and his powerful oil painting, Second Sketch for 'The Battle of Trafalgar', presented alongside Wood-Evans' large-scale contemporary canvases. Bridging Past and Present Jake Wood-Evans' work revels in blurring the boundaries between representation and abstraction. Much like Turner's radical late works, which laid the groundwork for the Impressionist movement, Wood-Evans conceives his paintings as 'prisms of light.' In this exhibition, you will see how Turner's influence is alive today. Wood-Evans' work plays with balancing obscurity and detail to alter the emotive atmosphere in his paintings, translating the energy of weather, water and the passage of time into luminous layers of paint. A Connection to the Medway Turner was fascinated by the Medway. He visited the Dockyard to sketch the very place where the Royal Navy's legendary ships, including HMS VICTORY and HMS TEMERAIRE (the subject of his most famous work), were built. This exhibition brings that history full circle by presenting original Turner pieces, on loan from Tate, in the historic setting that inspired them. Behind the Scenes Beyond the finished canvases, In Turner's Wake offers a unique glimpse into the creative process. Explore Jake's personal sketchbooks, artist materials, and ephemera to get a glimpse of how a contemporary studio operates. In Turner's Wake: Contemporary Visions by Jake Wood-Evans is included in your Dockyard admission ticket. JAKE WOOD-EVANS In an age dominated by screens and pixelated image, British contemporary artist Jake Wood-Evans' work feels like a welcome antidote. Drawing on the legacies of Old Masters, his intention is to capture the essence of these historic works without replicating them, depicting familiar, yet obscured subject matter. Creating ethereal images that are both unsettling and beautiful, Wood-Evans' powerful use of light emerges from a loose and instinctive application of paint. His oil paintings shimmer with luminous and intense layers of colour as bold marks, dripping oils and scored surfaces sit in company with fine, delicate detail. Describing his work as "a process of conflict with the ambiguous space between representation and abstraction", Wood-Evans resists the urge to provide easy readings or instantly accessible compositions. He invites the viewer to pause and quietly contemplate a series of multi-layered paintings that denote a common visual language built through our shared history and consumption of art imagery. Wood-Evans' work has been exhibited at galleries in London and across the UK, as well as international art fairs. He has worked with museums including Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery, The Holburne, Bath, Hampshire Cultural Trust and the Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, France. Wood-Evans' work can be found in private collections internationally, including collections in New York, Malaysia, London, Antwerp and Miami. He holds a BA Hons in Fine Art from Falmouth University, and was subsequently awarded a scholarship from the Royal Academy for classical study at the Prado museum in Madrid. The artist currently lives and works near Lewes, East Sussex. Read more Toggle Drawing Painting