Brighton’s Arty: Alison Krog

All creatures small and great

Flower head? Then make your way to Horsham Museum and Art Gallery between 2 July and 5 September, where local artist Claire Harrison will be exhibiting work based on the Sussex countryside. Inspired by flowers and insects from her garden, the large, brightly coloured oil paintings magnify the miniscule in a vivid palette that appears to glow from the canvas. This artist’s ambition is to show that the tiny bloom or bright beetle in a grass verge is like a jewel among the undergrowth – and you’ll often find her trying to crawl under the smallest wildflower to photograph it from below as if she was an insect looking up! Claire is also fascinated by camouflage, so look closely; she often hides insects within her work by the clever use of tone to conceal them.
Another artist who looks at the world in microscopic detail – but in this case embracing the marriage of art and science – is Robin Cooper-Hannan. Relationships with the natural world are a recurrent theme in his bold, highly recognisable works. Robin believes that art and science have more in common than opposition – that there is no art without investigation and no science without imagination. His figurative subjects reflect on identity, while the abstract works include dynamics of cellular and sub-cellular worlds – including chromosomes. Composition and key, allowing the viewer to develop interpretations that move between reality and reflection. You can see more of Robin’s fascinating work – and Claire’s paintings, too – in this year’s Arty publication: Art in Brighton 2015.
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