Max Lawrence White’s paintings sing. Melding and blending unexpected colours, there is a lyricism to the patterns that dance across his canvases. Colours are placed side by side in combinations that are unexpected and fresh, yet melodious. Here, colour becomes a playground where rules and boundaries cease to exist, allowing for intriguing and unexpected interactions.

With his interest in presenting colour as sensation, White’s practice follows on in the art historical footsteps of artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Roy de Maistre. Having inherited their legacy, White communes with colour in a way that acknowledges its underlying spiritual nature and its easy ability to evoke and represent other sensations such as music and sound. In these paintings, colour and shape dance together, creating rhythms and moments of repose. Contrast and harmony playfully coexist, inviting viewers to embark on an adventure with colour and explore the myriad possibilities of composition. Each artwork is a celebration of the multifaceted nature of colour, offering an immersive experience that transcends traditional notions of colour theory.

“Positioned between aspects of colour and geometry, my paintings aim to present colour as something inexhaustible and unexpected. In everyday life, colour is experienced in a transient manner. Within this experience, there are no rules or boundaries in regards to the interaction of colour. Intense artificial colours are combined with hues from more natural origins. Acknowledging this has led to a process within the studio where traditional and conventional approaches to colour are abandoned and curiosity, chance and dis-harmony embraced. By using a combination of domestic, industrial and fine art paint, my work aims to challenge the viewer’s perception of colour and expose them to an experience where the entire potency of colour is manifest and freed of both historical and theoretical baggage.

 Coda sees the conclusion of the body of work that was first exhibited at Artereal Gallery in early 2022, in the show Variations on a Theme. This body of work originated from the reworkings of past paintings through the technique of collage. Cutting and slicing the works into strips and then rearranging them, each work containing nine strips. The result was new compositions that were geometry, music and landscape, all at once. Colour and shape, rhythm and repose, contrast and harmony, all elements that are celebrated in these paintings. An adventure with colour and the myriad possibilities of composition.” – Max Lawrence White