The Passing Show: Adoration Paintings of London by Ed Gray

Lovely exhibition at St Martin in the Fields of new works by Ed Gray.

Gray was inspired to paint these works after looking at adoration and nativity pictures in the National Gallery which crowd scenes with a sense of spectacle. The pictures show London scenes full of people each going about their day to day lives but coming together to form a crowd. The show had a mix of original works and giclee prints as well as some sketches.

Scenes included people crossing bridges, on the tube, at Liverpool Street station, going to a football match and at a protest in Parliament Square. They are packed full of life and action and he choreographs the figures into busy but engaging compositions.

My favourite picture was “Adoration of Thomas A Becket on the Old Kent Road” which shows people going about their business in the snow including a boy with a shopping trolley, a man in a electric wheel chair, people with carrier bags and all the trappings of a road. It took me ages to work out what Thomas a Becket had to do with it, then the penny dropped that it’s the pub in the background!

Closes on 28 April 2018

 

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