Just before Christmas 2020 Jonathan Cooper kindly offered me the chance to co-exhibit with the wonderfully talented Joseph Black, an offer which I was eager to accept.
Rather than our combined efforts presenting a collective dose of equine overload, Jonathan believed our very individual techniques and styles would complement each other’s work, and allow interesting and alternative perspectives of the equine form, all at the same exhibition.
It has also offered me the chance to explore some ideas I have been entertaining for a while, the ‘polo’ aspect especially, with the combination of movement and dynamic musculature under tight control. In these paintings, however, I did not want to allow the human element to overshadow that of the horse, so I have constructed them with some gripping perspectives. I hope this works - I personally like the anonymity of the controlling power, the rider, the player - something indeed which I might be tempted to explore further.
Michael J. Austin
April 2021
