Aviator Charles Lindbergh once said that "Life is like a landscape. You can live in the midst of it, but only describe it from a distance" - a concept which is extremely pertinent to Benjamin Warner's 2012 Collection - Distant Perspectives, part of the Effortless Brushstrokes season.

In the 'Effortless Brushstrokes' series of exhibitions, Beside the Wave and Falmouth Art Gallery have joined forces to showcase great works of art which express 'the most with the least.' As such, we have sought out work which reveals the 'immensity' that is held within a few strokes of a paintbrush or palette knife. The incredible skill required to say so much with, on the face of it, so little effort is one of the hallmarks of these exhibitions.

Paintings can seem effortless in a number of ways, one of which is simplicity expressed in a tendency to abstract. Warner's ability to capture the essence of a landscape sees form edging up to abstraction, particularly at the edges of the day, with works that are expressed with painterly impasto and with apparent informality.

Lucian Freud maintained that "The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real" and it is this ability to make something appear real (whilst a closer look reveals near abstract forms of expression) that is showcased in this exhibition. These are monumental, timeless paintings that capture the dynamism of the visual forces at work in the natural world. Landscapes are seen from afar - the moors stretching away from Cornwall's highest peak; the ocean seen from the cliff tops, expanses of silver waves breaking onto the storm-swept shore; turbulent cloudscapes broken with pools of seraphic light; and the calm of the sun rising on a still day across the distant rooftops of a sleeping town.

In paintings reminiscent of the Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael, Warner's winter landscapes are dark and mysterious, the tempestuousness of the season expressed, however, in rich, complex palettes that are rare in Warner's typically pared back work. Meanwhile, the challenge of painting midday landscapes brings a new dimension to Warner's composition as the duo-chrome renditions of dawn and dusk give way to diaphanous layers of subtle colour through which the bones of the landscape, described by the light pools on the hillsides, are revealed. Depicted in thick, impasto paint the paintwork is more than usually visible, and is applied with apparently effortless facility.

This exhibition showcases paintings which have been created with apparent ease and, whilst they may seem effortless, they come as a result of a lifetime's commitment to expression through the medium of paint. In choosing new, unfamiliar and demanding environments in which to paint, and in accepting the challenge of the opening solo show of the Effortless Brushstrokes season, Warner has achieved new levels of maturity in his already highly regarded and accomplished career.

To receive further information about the exhibition please contact Beside The Wave gallery@beside-the-wave.co.uk or 01326 211132. All paintings will be available to view on the gallery website www.beside-the-wave.co.uk from 24th February 2012.

View Benjamin Warners Index Page