WILHELMINA BARNS-GRAHAM AND JONATHAN MICHAEL RAY

TATE ST IVES

28 May – 2 October 2022

The pairing of these two seemingly disparate artists serves, interestingly, to reveal what it is that they share: not just a deep connection with the mysterious and ancient landscape of West Cornwall, but a brilliantly diverse creativity.

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
White, Black and Yellow (Composition February), 1957
© Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust

Paintings from throughout the varied career of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham CBE (1912-2004), leading member of the St Ives School and one of Britain’s foremost Modern painters, are brought together here; you could also say brought home. It makes for an exciting opportunity to survey the full scope and energy of her interest in form, movement and colour, in natural geometries and spatial dynamics.

Jonathan Michael Ray (b.1984) is at a relatively early stage in his career. The breadth of his practice, however, is notable. Often employing collage and assemblage, he incorporates photography, printmaking, found objects, stained glass and local stone. Recent works share with Barns-Graham a fascination with geology, with looking down and digging under nature’s surface. 

Read Ray on Barns-Graham’s Rock Theme, St Just, 1953 in the current issue of Tate Etc.