SHOW of the Week: 'Foreverisms' at Cob Gallery

To be 'Forever' no doubt has strict positive-only associations. 'I want this day to last forever'; 'This relationship is forever'; 'Our quality lasts a lifetime'. And yet, Scottish artist Allan Gardner's London debut exhibition with Cob Gallery completely refutes this idea, which is why it is a must-see. Drawing on the idea of 'Forever' being a terrible thing, Gardner's Foreverisms flips loving connotations of the word entirely on their heads, instead choosing to explore the opposing definition - one rooted in 'a fear of emptiness and eternal stagnation', ultimately evoking a sense of 'horror vacui'.

Opening at Cob Gallery on 5 April until 18 May, Foreverisms encapsulates Gardner’s multi-layered approach to painting via an installation comprising entirely new works, all of which promise to delve into the art historical canon of abstract painting to reflect on the unique power we often attribute with symbols and the prowess they hold when it comes to interpreting artworks, past and present.

As with all abstract art, central to Gardner’s practice is the act of interpretation, colliding various elements of popular culture, personal experiences, art history, and critical theory to construct orchestrated narratives that not only question the viewer's experience or held views but also the discourse surrounding contemporary art. The exhibition itself also breaks new ground by carving out a new direction for Gardner, who made his career as an artist via painting figurative portraiture that derived from photography. This impulsive shift towards language for Gardner throws into question the sometimes tense relationship between the written word and visual art; the difference here is that Gardner has made art from the word, rather than vice versa.

Words and phrases including Always, Endless, Dreaming, and Ever After feature a near-obsessive amount in Gardners' Foreverisms paintings, appearing as blurred forms of distorted cursive script that, despite their loving connotations, are intended to make you apprehensive at best, mind-numbingly irritated at worst. Emerging from the works on show as fleeting, oversized, cropped and repeated, a ghostly apparition fills the space with a sense of predisposed unease.

Why do we give power to some symbols and not to others? And Who gets to decide the meaning and messaging of words? These are just some of the questions Gardner's Foreverisms throws into the cauldron of knowledge while also intending for the works to be viewed in much the same way as one would a Rothko; an entrenched melancholy seeping from all pores. Here, meaning becomes transient and subjective, with you becoming the author of what you see and how you see it.

Foreverisms will be on show at Cob Gallery from 5 April until 18 May.

Address: 205 Royal College Street, London, NW1 0SG.

Opening Times: Thursday to Friday 12:00 - 18:00 BST and Saturday 12:00 - 17:00 BST