SOME NEWSPAPER REVIEWS:
(Translation from Catalan)
ALBERTO ROCA, ARTS, SITGES NEWSPAPER
GEOFFREY JAMES SELWAY - PICTORIAL ENERGY IN GONZALO OLIVAN’S GALLERY, SITGES, BARCELONA
Until July 4th, we can see the most recent work of Geoffrey James Selway, in
Gonzalo Olivan’s gallery. An artist from Wales who arrived in Catalonia in 2001 and from this area he found much artistic inspiration.
Observing his work, at the very first sight, we find much light, strength and impulsive energy. Also displayed is a freshness
of form and the enormous vitality behind each of his paintings. His love of nature is emotionally expressed and light is a
principal element in his work. Through his paintings he demonstrates his huge universe: landscapes, streets, the expressions
and details on the faces of his characters which bring them so close to reality, his plant life and interesting urban areas.
Different aspects, different images, which all leads us to the same certain place: the
painter’s soul, which is obviously both creative and emotional. Both aspects are combined in such a way that in his
images, apart from the obvious energy, there is a life which goes beyond the brush-strokes and expresses itself through the
paintings as if they themselves are actually alive.
Geoffrey James has found in the gallery an ideal setting to show the richness of his work.
CHARLES
CASCÓN, ARTS, DIARY OF SABADELL NEWSPAPER
(Translation
from Catalan)
A WELSHMAN INSPIRED BY SABADELL
THE PAINTER GEOFFREY JAMES SELWAY EXHIBITS AT THE GRIFFIN GALLERY, SABADELL, BARCELONA
As if he followed the writer Gerald Brenan’s steps, the British painter (in this
case Welsh) Geoffrey James Selway searched for a place in the South of Europe where his artistic soul could rest and he could
regenerate his creative inspiration. He was looking for a new sunlight which was essential for his work and ended up choosing
the Catalan city of Sabadell, where he has been living for
over two years. Here he can see every day from his home the ever-changing colours
in the sky over the ‘La Mola’ mountain on the horizon.
He wandered in Southern Spain and in Portugal,
searching for the right place to settle, but these places didn’t seem right. They did not have the same appeal for him
as Catalonia, where he found that here the people are like the people of homeland, Wales. They are
proud of their culture and traditions. Captured by the wide range of subjects and landscapes, from here, Selway has painted
much in the past months and he is now presenting a collection of 35 paintings in The Griffin, Sabadell.
He states that when he sees the dramatic light in the sky, which he witnesses every day through his window, combining with the peculiar silhouette of the mountain of Montserrat
he is easily stimulated into capturing the sight with his brush-strokes. He work, he says, develops from seeing a combination
of light and shade and the truth is that, when a spectator views his images, the human figures in his paintings seem to really
be alive.
Selway was born and brought up in a mountainous area of South Wales,
an area with a long-standing tradition of music, theatre and art. His work has been bought by collectors from various parts
of the world. He uses different techniques such as oil, watercolour and acrylic.
