Mint Art Gallery showed work by Tom Down at the recent London Art Fair.
Using as his starting point the grand romantic landscape paintings of 19th Century artists such as Casper David Friedrich & Auguste Capelen amongst others, he explores the contrast of our current environmental situation making gorgeous models from humble, often discarded materials then painting them in a traditional style.
This provides an irreverent irritant to the cliché of the grandiose untouched landscape, encouraging us to look again with a more objective viewpoint.
I know the model-making is only part of his process but it was my favourite piece on the stand.
