Synaesthetic bewilderment: Winston Branch’s ‘The Sweet Scent of Magnolia’ at Varvara Roza Galleries
Milky and iridescent, both voluble and subdued, Winston’s array of texturizing acrylics questions our means of expression.
Nick Harvey - Courtesy of Varvara Roza Galleries
At the age of 76, Branch has lived several lives, so it is only appropriate that his latest collection explores the struggle to verbalise identity and our continuous shedding of character. Branch calls his medium an ‘amorphous substance’ using it to form an ‘illusory image, thereby evoking the sensuality of feeling. Colour is light, and through colour, I express my humanity.’ His choice of acrylic – known for its granular texture – forms peaks and troughs, building indelible depths to his landscapes. It demands an intensity of engagement from his observers. As a result, we step into worlds of bewildering synaesthesia prompted by the exhibition title.
Nick Harvey - Courtesy of Varvara Roza Galleries
Seeking out the alive and the reborn, Branch constructs kaleidoscopic environments from multiple layers of light, line, and colour. He builds up intricate abstractions in a process of continual eradication and growth until hidden spaces appear. Partly an artistic experimentation, and partly a journey of identity, each painting represents the dominance of intuition. ‘I don’t know what the paint is going to do, that’s the magic of it, that’s the dance…. the whole thing is about trying to have clarity and fluidity.’
Nick Harvey - Courtesy of Varvara Roza Galleries
Branch speaks of his adoration for Monet’s ‘Water Lilies.’ But rather than calling it an influence, he sees it as embedded within his subconscious, implying its shapes and shadows through his powdery acrylic and bold brushwork. Much of this collection remains untitled and with this anaphora, we enter a world of architectural abstraction and chiaroscuro forming fissures, openings, and cracks. As passengers we find no tangible beginning or end, but instead an evolving iteration of what it means to reform and expose oneself.
Nick Harvey - Courtesy of Varvara Roza Galleries
One title ‘Today is not a surprise’ (2023), postulates the mundanity of urban modernity. And yet, his daring use of colour and blurring between palettes is anything but. Upon looking, we are in fact surprised - or rather, startled - into existence.
@Varavararozagalleries, 8 Duke Street, St James’s, London.
Duration: November 21 – December 19, 2023 Please see the gallery website for more information.
Recognition for photography Nick Harvey/ Courtesy of Varvara Roza Galleries