Justin Andrews: FORM / WORK

At first glance, the new works are collage: scraps of canvas and scavenged fabrics sliced up and stuck to a painted ground. It’s tempting to believe Justin has simply dropped these pieces and glued them where they fell… The spontaneous appearance is deceptive: Justin has a surgical command of visual language, and extraordinary effort goes into his rendition of flux. The shapes never collapse or tumble; they fracture and slip. The lines are always unfailingly straight – an achievement more difficult than it appears. Half a lifetime of ideas and ideals are distilled into a precise vocabulary of gaps, angles, and echoes… Justin spreads the scraps and supports across his tables then goes to work – improvising arrangements like a jazz musician, he says. There is a flute and a modular synth within arm’s reach, suddenly charged with intriguing possibilities…