Hay Hill Gallery 5a Cork Street London W1S 3NY 020 7439 1001 www.hayhill.com Forthcoming exhibition November 2012 THE SUPPER oil on canvas and painted wooden frame, 50 x 70 inches, 2010 SOLD DEJA VU tinted gesso on wood, 12 x 14 inches, 2010 SOLD DOUBLA oil on canvas on wood, 19 x 26 inches, 2010 SOLD THE HOURGLASS tinted gesso on canvas and painted wooden frame, 32 x 36 inches, 2010 SOLD LEARNING TO FLY tinted gesso on wood, 16 x 14 inches, 2010 SOLD ZANNI ink on paper, 12 x 8 inches, 2009 SOLD GRIMALDI ANDTHE GOOSE tinted gesso on canvas and painted wooden frame, 52 x 40 inches, 2010 SOLD SONG OF THE SEA tinted gesso on wood, 14 x 13 inches, 2010 SOLD HEROES AND VILLAINS tinted gesso on canvas on corrugated wood support, 15 x 37 inches, 2010 SOLD THE FOOD OF LOVE tinted gesso on wood, 21 x 17 x 4 inches, 2008 SOLD THE CARD PLAYERS tinted gesso on wood, 6 x 7 inches, 2010 SOLD ALL AT SEA wood engraving, 4 x 5 inches, 2009 SOLD PJ Crook’s paintings are instantly recognizable by their distinctive style and painted frames. Crook is one of the very few artists to have constantly utilized the surface of the frame to enhance the narrative quality of her work. In western art there has always been a barrier between the work and its environment which is inferred by the grandeur of the golden frame. Crook’s painted frames, alongside the extruding sculptural elements to her works, express the artist’s desire to entice the audience by breaking down those barriers. Fearing a lack of compulsion to create the work if she knew what it would ultimately look like, PJ Crook never limits herself to pre-planning a piece. Instead, drawing from memory, intuition and the subconscious, Crook allows for the canvas itself to dictate its own direction though random and sometimes accidental brush strokes. This is the artist’s way of gambling on the creative process. Inspired by her late father, who spent much of his time hustling at snooker, in late night card schools or on the turf, and by her studio’s close proximity to Cheltenham racecourse; Crook has produced a number of works on the theme of racing and gambling. Another of the leading themes of PJ Crook’s work is a concern with the human condition, be it fashion and consumerism, for instance, Higher Heels & Longer Toes, or the spiritual, such as Volcano and The Supper. Since 1988 the theme of consumerism has been expressed through her crowded newspaper compositions. Crook sees these works as ‘history painting’ which documents the current state of affairs. For the past two decades she has observed a great change in the formats of the printed press. Broadsheets now resemble tabloids in both appearance and content; from their changing mastheads to a unified interest in celebrity. Crook’s ‘comic strip’ paintings portray the superficiality of the super heroes whose substance, like much celebrity, is but paper thin. Alexandra Tuulos

Hay Hill Gallery

5a Cork Street London W1S 3NY

020 7439 1001 www.hayhill.com

Forthcoming exhibition November 2012

THE SUPPER

oil on canvas and painted wooden frame, 50 x 70 inches, 2010

SOLD

DEJA VU

tinted gesso on wood, 12 x 14 inches, 2010

SOLD

DOUBLA

oil on canvas on wood, 19 x 26 inches, 2010

SOLD

THE HOURGLASS

tinted gesso on canvas and painted wooden frame, 32 x 36 inches, 2010

SOLD

LEARNING TO FLY

tinted gesso on wood, 16 x 14 inches, 2010

SOLD

ZANNI

ink on paper, 12 x 8 inches, 2009

SOLD

GRIMALDI ANDTHE GOOSE

tinted gesso on canvas and painted wooden frame, 52 x 40 inches, 2010

SOLD

SONG OF THE SEA

tinted gesso on wood, 14 x 13 inches, 2010

SOLD

HEROES AND VILLAINS

tinted gesso on canvas on corrugated wood support, 15 x 37 inches, 2010

SOLD

THE FOOD OF LOVE

tinted gesso on wood, 21 x 17 x 4 inches, 2008

SOLD

THE CARD PLAYERS

tinted gesso on wood, 6 x 7 inches, 2010

SOLD

ALL AT SEA

wood engraving, 4 x 5 inches, 2009

SOLD

PJ Crook’s paintings are instantly recognizable by their distinctive style and painted frames. Crook is one of the very few artists to have constantly utilized the surface of the frame to enhance the narrative quality of her work.

In western art there has always been a barrier between the work and its environment which is inferred by the grandeur of the golden frame. Crook’s painted frames, alongside the extruding sculptural elements to her works, express the artist’s desire to entice the audience by breaking down those barriers.

Fearing a lack of compulsion to create the work if she knew what it would ultimately look like, PJ Crook never limits herself to pre-planning a piece. Instead, drawing from memory, intuition and the subconscious, Crook allows for the canvas itself to dictate its own direction though random and sometimes accidental brush strokes. This is the artist’s way of gambling on the creative process.

Inspired by her late father, who spent much of his time hustling at snooker, in late night card schools or on the turf, and by her studio’s close proximity to Cheltenham racecourse; Crook has produced a number of works on the theme of racing and gambling.

Another of the leading themes of PJ Crook’s work is a concern with the human condition, be it fashion and consumerism, for instance, Higher Heels & Longer Toes, or the spiritual, such as Volcano and The Supper. Since 1988 the theme of consumerism has been expressed through her crowded newspaper compositions. Crook sees these works as ‘history painting’ which documents the current state of affairs. For the past two decades she has observed a great change in the formats of the printed press. Broadsheets now resemble tabloids in both appearance and content; from their changing mastheads to a unified interest in celebrity.

Crook’s ‘comic strip’ paintings portray the superficiality of the super heroes whose substance, like much celebrity, is but paper thin.

Alexandra Tuulos