British and French Art United At Entente Cordiale

Artistic and cultural détente is set to be achieved in Entente Cordiale, an exhibition of leading British and French artists — including previously unseen works from Sir Francis Barry—at the Shepherds Bush Pavilion, a leading arts and entertainment venue based at 58 Shepherds Bush Green, Shepherds Bush, London, W12 HQE from Saturday 29th October to Tuesday 8th November 2005

Entente Cordiale has been devised by Richard Kaye — an international art promoter based in France — principally to achieve the objective of celebrating British and French art and culture by exhibiting emerging artistic talents alongside more established names from each nation. Entente Cordiale will serve to encourage an appreciation of new, previously uncelebrated works from both nations, highlighting stylistic common ground between British and French artists and providing a celebration of the shared cultural heritage of France and Britain in a year when Jacques Chirac’s faux pas, excessive Trafalgar jingoism, Paris/London Olympics issues, and the fall-out from the celebrations of last year’s Centenary of Entente Cordiale have blurred cultural relations between the nations on either side of the (English) Channel.

Alongside the extensive collection from Sir Francis Barry, Entente Cordiale will present a world exclusive of the Adrian Ramos’ Tributes– thirty two works by the innovative British-based artist which pay homage to a number of the leading cultural and arts icons of the last 100 years – including figures as diverse as Steven Spielberg, Francis Bacon and Jimi Hendrix.

Sir Francis Barry (1883-1970) was originally trained in the Newlyn school of realist painting yet evolved throughout his career—in terms of both style and medium—from narrative to landscape, from oil paintings to etchings and on to ‘pointillist’, all constantly striving for simplicity. By the end of his career his paintings had developed a distinctly abstract style, colour often being the primary driving force. Although English by birth and training, his aesthetic sensibility was always more French, allowing for a remarkable stylistic fusion of the two countries. An enigmatic figure, Barry’s work spanned most of the twentieth century, reflected by the diverse content on show.

Adrian Ramos’ (1963—) intricate paintings often focus on the elaborate relationship between technology and man and the resulting ramifications on the environment. Although a city-dweller himself, recent paintings have been inspired by trips to the Amazon rainforest and the coral reefs of Thailand, allowing Ramos to highlight the complexity of nature in contrast to the destructiveness of mankind. His series of paintings, ‘The Tributes’ are dedicated to a small number of cities, artists, musicians, actors and others who have affected inspiration and motivation.