More than meets the eye: the landscape of Northamptonshire as modern art

The solo exhibition by Simon James occupies all three gallery spaces at 78 Derngate, a visual arts showcase situated alongside the Charles Rennie Mackintosh house, a celebrated heritage site in Northampton’s cultural quarter.

Running through July and August, the exhibition offers an opportunity to experience familiar surroundings through the eyes of an internationally established artist, in the form of more than 30 paintings, drawings and photographic works that toy with the conventions of landscape art and teeter on the edge of abstraction.

Produced in a burst of creativity over 18 months, the works take their cue from the agricultural expanses of south Northamptonshire, where the artist has a studio. From that base, he has examined the land and its plant life up close or at a distance, through multiple seasons and intense weather events, including extreme states of abundance and decay.

Vivid greens and bright yellows

“Landlocked middle England has been a rich source of inspiration,” said James. “For example, last year vivid greens from a mild and moist summer appeared alongside autumnal golds. Even muddy fields after flooding presented interesting colours and surfaces. And a sharp winter freeze covered whole fields with a kind of mint frosting.”

Northamptonshire natives should be able to recognise colours and shapes in the pared-back imagery: the intense yellow of flowering rapeseed crops or the dark trails of tractor tracks. Images of spent seed heads or semi-submerged plants, while more figurative, would be harder to place, but explanatory notes in the gallery identify countryside locations between the towns of Northampton, Towcester, Daventry and Brackley. There is also a gallery guide to the techniques used in the painted panels, charcoal drawings and photographic works, presented here as large-scale monochrome prints or as a pristine row of aluminium-backed images.

The exhibition title “In Extremis: Landscape Reimagined”, we are told, alludes to both the underlying theme of changing weather patterns and a desire as an artist to test the limits of different media.

“Serene and stimulating”

James collaborated with 78 Derngate house manager Liz Jansson to curate an exhibition in which the works have space to breathe and complement the gallery architecture.

“It evokes a certain calmness, a serenity,” said Jansson of the show, which is divided into three parts called ‘Deadheads’, ‘Water Margins’ and ‘Colour Field’. “This exhibition has created a very different sort of atmosphere across all the galleries and invites visitors to take a slow, steady look at each section.”

In the comments book, visitors have variously described the works as “stimulating”, “fascinating” and “provocative”.

Jansson also highlighted an affinity between the Scottish creator of the 78 Derngate interiors and the artist now on show, in their streamlined designs and colour choices. “There is something similar in the simplicity yet fragility of nature investigated in the work.”

While not directly inspired by Rennie Mackintosh, James has drawn on some shared influences, including exposure to Asian art. Although he grew up in rural and urban Northamptonshire, his career has taken him to London and onwards to Asia.

After developing his talent at Northampton School for Boys and Nene College, which is now part of Northampton University, James studied fine art at the Royal Academy and Royal College of Art, going on to work as an artist, designer and lecturer in Tokyo and Singapore. He has also exhibited in Shanghai and Berlin.

Now based back in the UK, the exhibition could be said to mark his artistic homecoming.

“In Extremis: Landscape Reimagined” runs until August 26 at 78 Derngate, the Charles Rennie Mackintosh House & Galleries in Northampton. Open Tuesday-Sunday, admission to the galleries is free, but a charge applies to visiting the Mackintosh house.

For more information visit www.simonjames.com