Glinting with gold and rendered in vivid hues of red, green, brown and white, heavily textured forms shift between figuration and abstraction, simultaneously captivating and eluding the gaze. These works are part of an arresting new body of work by Los Angeles-based artist Forrest Kirk whose painting practice incorporates a wide range of media to create bold sculptural surfaces. Over the last decade, Forrest has developed a highly unique visual language that emerges through a layered process encompassing research, material experimentation and an intrinsic understanding of colour, texture and form. His first solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, playfully entitled Temple Run, takes the city’s colonial history as its departing point, examining ongoing debates around stolen artefacts that continue to reside in museum collections across the UKwhile also speaking to contemporary issues around conflict and cultural identity.
