Rosannagh reviews ‘Tobias Keene: Aurora’

FROM THE CITY OF ANGELS TO THE COTSWOLD HILLS: LA ARTIST TOBIAS KEENE COMES TO OXFORDSHIRE FOR HIS INAUGURAL UK EXHIBITION

The quintessentially Cotswolds town of Charlbury isn't the first place one might expect to find an exhibition of paintings the likes of which decorate the homes of the Hollywood glitterati - and yet, Charlbury's new pop-up exhibition space, D W Gallery, plays host to Los Angeles-based artist, Tobias Keene, for his inaugural UK exhibition, Aurora. Showing until 8 August, Keene's monumental and miniature oil paintings (ranging in size from a mere 20cm to a whopping 3 metres) have a captive reality about their often dream-like subject matter. The exhibition marks a return to the Cotswolds for Keene, who grew up there before moving to LA in the 1980s, and D W Gallery - a brand-new temporary exhibitions venue for the area - provides the ideal gallery space in which to showcase his vivid and explosive use of colour and form.

Aurora offers visitors an insight into Keene's life in LA, the light, experiences and people he has encountered while living there. The work on show delves into themes of ceremony and beauty imprinted into the artist's psyche whilst living abroad for 25 years. As Keene suggests, "I'm fascinated by deconstructing known images and reworking them into ceremonial context."

With Aurora, Keene plays with scale. His large oil paintings, mixed among hauntingly exquisite miniatures, are equal parts aesthetically, technically and emotionally beautiful. A cow, running dogs, or portraits of saints are examples of iconic images plucked out of childhood memories that elicit a longing sense of home, juxtaposed with generous use of negative space that conjures up feelings of displacement - perfectly explicable for an artist whose life has straddled both sides of the Atlantic.

Tobias Keene is a third-generation artist. His father was the renowned painter Arthur Keene and his grandfather was a WWII artist who painted under the name of Van Art. Since moving to LA, Tobias has built a fantastic client base and has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions, in both the Los Angeles and New York galleries of Earl McGrath, as well the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, and Christies in Beverly Hills. In 2013 the Trout Museum of Art in Wisonsin, USA held a major retrospective of Keene's paintings, along with those of his father and his grandfather. Collectors who have acquired his paintings include Wallis Annenberg, Robert Downey Jr, Tobey Maguire, Tommy Chong, Bill Wyman, Viscount Althorp, Ahmet and Mica Ertegun, and Brett and Carol ChengMayer, amongst others.

This exhibition celebrates an international collaboration between LA-based Robbi Chong with Cotswolds-based Amadea West who invited Branch Arts to co-produce the exhibition. Drawing on the expertise of Branch Art's Directors Flora Fairbairn and Susie Lawson, the exhibition showcases the need in the art world for collaboration and partnerships. Facilitating exhibitions in unusual spaces and drawing on their collective 32 years of curating and building audiences, Branch works to bring established and emerging talent to national and international audiences. On Friday 15 June, the opening brought together supporters, collectors and friends from across the globe to mark Keene's work, and with thanks to the generous sponsorship of Savills, Black Cow Vodka and Ross & Ross, was a true celebration of Keene's return to the UK.

Aurora runs daily by appointment, and every Friday from 11.00am - 6.00pm, until 8 August, at D W Gallery, Sheep Street, Charlbury OX7 3RR.