A section of one of Geoff Wilde’s paintings
A colourful exhibition will fill the walls at Rhyl Library Gallery this summer. Frozen Music by Geoff Wilde is sure to draw the attention of visitors to Rhyl Library when it opens on Saturday 19 July, with its larger-than-life oil paintings spanning fifty years of the artist’s career.
Visitors can expect to see recent paintings as well as some dating back to the 1960s, all executed in rich oil paints. Bright shapes are arranged on backgrounds of vibrant blues and deep reds, whilst other paintings explore a subdued and darker palette. Paintings sometimes hint at familiar views, such as a view of a market square seen from above or a maroon sun, set high above a landscape. But inherent in all of these paintings is the rhythm that Wilde creates by his arrangement of contrasting forms and colours.
Wilde’s paintings attest his passion for composition, rhythm and relationships of colour and mass. These elements are inspired by his visual and emotional responses to places (north Wales and West Riding) and people (real, historical and mythical) significant in his life.
Music has also had a great influence on Wilde, whose mother was a pianist and singer, throughout his life and career. Through abstract painting Wilde tries to create a space where the viewer can have an immediate connection or emotional response, as often happens when listening to music. This attempt to evoke a visceral, sensuous response is a difficult task, the artist concedes, but well worth the effort.
During his career an arts educator, Geoff Wilde spent some time as Head of Arts at Laird College of Art and Deputy Head at the Faculty of Arts & Design at Wirral Metropolitan College. He has also written musicals for schools and a libretto for a musical biography of Owain Glyndwr for his 600th Anniversary Festival. He has lived in Cynwyd with his family since 1980.
Denbighshire Arts Service aims to stimulate and encourage individual and community awareness, involvement and participation in the arts. This is achieved through an extensive programme of exhibitions, workshops, performances and residencies particularly in the field of visual arts but also in other art forms, to include events of international, national and local importance and to provide a programme of community art exhibitions and events.
Sian Green, Exhibitions and Arts Project Coordinator, Denbighshire County Council Arts Service:
“We are very pleased to exhibit Geoff Wilde’s work at Rhyl Library this summer; a celebration of his illustrious career as an artist. His paintings attest his dedication and his love of art and music and we’re pleased that the public will have a chance to see the richness and breadth of his work. We are honoured that Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture park, will be joining us to open the exhibition.”
The opening evening is held at 6pm, Friday 25 July. Clare Lilley, Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park will be at Rhyl Library to formally open the exhibition. Join us at 6pm, all welcome.
