Andrew Edlin Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of works by John Spinks running from November 20- December 20, 2003. The artist, who is 57, was raised in County Clare, Ireland and in the north of England. Spinks, who is self-taught, turned to art after a career as an English and drama teacher. He began exhibiting his work about 10 years ago. This marks his first exhibit at the gallery.

John Spinks creates harmonious formal compositions from the
flotsam and jetsam of daily life. He combines fragments of poetry
books, nautical maps and newspaper clippings with more
mundane materials such as coffee filters, leaves and scraps of
wood. Working on canvas, he adds paint sparingly, transforming
the images into meditative paintings.
 
"Looking at John Spinks recent paintings... is rather like looking at
a map that keeps changing even as you consult it. He uses
collages on canvas that are animated with evocative color,
interspersed with bold shapes. The effect is quietly exhilarating.
They seem to open and open. At one level they're the artist's
considered response to the thronging sights and sounds of New
York City, but they also delve deeper, into strangely unsettling
realms that defy easy classification."

Cahir O'Doherty
ŠThe Irish Echo  October, 2003