Monica French

Monica French, a freelance writer and book reviewer as well as a keen artist, provides a relatively brief biography of Malcolm Fryer, and discusses the artist’s work and how he approaches it, frequently quoting his own words. The book is illustrated throughout in full colour with about 60 images. Many are full-page and there are a few double-page spreads in this very large format book. Book size: 12.25” x 9.5” (31cm x 24cm)

The book has a vitality purely derived from the artist’s paintings; however it is let down on a few counts. The typographic design is poor; the very narrow page margins combined with the excessive line spacing do nothing for the presentation other than cheapen it. The other problems relate to the reproduction of the images, some look to be out of focus or perhaps magnified beyond their limit; often the offending images appear to be a detail of a larger picture, but the caption does no reveal this information; the only clue is the stated proportions of the painting do not match those of the printed image.

Those reservation aside it is the artist’s work ultimately which matters. One can clearly see the influence of the painter Fryer admires in his work, Turner, but with a much more intense palette; it is here perhaps where his interest in stain-glass shows. Perhaps it is the latter influence which brings to mind the work of John Piper when viewing some of the paintings. His work is certainly very freely painted, and while loosely representational it is very subjective in interpretation.… (plus d'informations)