Dimensions: support: 1986 x 1892 mm
Copyright: © Leon Kossoff | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Leon Kossoff's "Christ Church, Spitalfields, Morning," an undated oil on canvas. The thick impasto creates such a textured surface. What strikes you about the composition? Curator: The painting's strength lies in its architectural representation through pure form. Notice how Kossoff reduces the church to a series of planes and volumes, almost Cubist in its fragmented perspective. Editor: So, it's less about the realistic depiction and more about the interplay of shapes and textures? Curator: Precisely. The materiality and surface work are crucial. Observe how the heavy impasto and cool color palette create a sense of solidity and monumentality, despite the distortion. The brushstrokes function almost as building blocks. Editor: I see it now. It's the construction of the image that carries the meaning. Curator: Exactly. Kossoff uses the formal elements to convey a powerful presence.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kossoff-christ-church-spitalfields-morning-t06735
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Kossoff was born and studied in London, and now works here. 'Ever since the age of twelve I have drawn and painted London. I have worked from Bethnal Green, the City, Willesden Junction, York Way and Dalston.' Kossoff chooses to paint bomb sites, excavations, railway stations and their booking halls, and indoor swimming pools, subjects that give a strong flavour of the experience of everyday urban existence. He has painted a series of pictures on the subject of the grand city church, Christchurch, Spitalfields, by the architect Hawksmoor, and this painting focuses on the relationship between the diminutive figures in the street and the looming presence of the church. Gallery label, September 2004
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