Denzil Forrester: Two Decades of Painting

A4 sized catalogue, landscape in format. Full colour plates throughout. The catalogue was published on the occasion of Denzil Forrester: Two Decades of Painting, 4 Victoria Street, Bristol, 4 June - 6 July 2002. The exhibition was one of several that took place in a building that was, previously, a near-derelict space, offered to independent Bristol-based curator, Eddie Chambers for use as an exhibition space, by Bristol City Council. The space, on two floors, once cleaned up and made into a temporary gallery, was used for exhibitions by Avtarjeet Singh Danjhal and Eugene Palmer; Medina Hammad, and Denzil Forrester. These exhibitions were funded by Bristol City Council and South West Arts. Each of the exhibitions came with catalogues. 4 Victoria Street was also, during 2002, used as a studio by Anthony Key, to make the bricks made of gypsum plaster (often referred to as plaster of Paris).These bricks were subsequently used in Key’s Walcott Chapel installation, Anthony Key: Walcot Chapel, Bath, 24 September - 19 October 2002.

From the foreword, by Eddie Chambers, “Historically, Forrester has taken as his subject the twin themes of reggae dance hall and the music of carnival. At times, his work has touched on other themes, such as deaths in police custody. His canvasses - often large, oversize affairs - range from dark, brooding and sometimes menacing works, through to bright, liberated paintings resonating with bright and vibrant colours. Sometimes, the scenes he depicts are located in low light, almost tomb-like environments. On other occasions, like carnival itself, Forrester takes to the streets, allowing the sun into his paintings. In the words of John Russell Taylor, who has written a sensitive and illuminating essay for this publication, “The something that Forrester’s paintings are about is distinctive and unmistakable. From the time when he first encountered the clubs, their dancing and their dub music, they have provided the basic scene for his large paintings.”