That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

Sonnet 73
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) 

 Evening Sycamore 2014

Right: Mascalls Gallery exhibition program.

Link to Laura Gascoigne Country Life feature.

Julian Perry's new body of work created for this exhibition focuses on the crisis currently facing British Trees. 'A perfect storm' of various pathogens and changing weather patterns threatens Britain's woodland and has the potential to alter our landscape as dramatically as the arrival of  'Dutch' Elm disease in the 1960s. 

Perry's work is seductive in it's drama, detail and skilled manipulation of paint. The works nostalgically echo the "Ladybird" books illustrations of  the 1960s with their sense of affectionate illustration. However these apparently benign paintings leave the viewer wondering about the greater environmental implications of this disease and decay in our landscape. Perry's attempt to make 'attractive' paintings of an arboreal crisis took inspiration from Henry Tonks beautiful but horrific watercolour studies of soldiers disfigured in the First World War.

Perry's work is steeped in the British Landscape tradition and he holds a deep fascination and concern for contemporary environmental issues. His painting 'Shed 54 and Rhubarb" (Museum of London Collection) shows a doomed allotment shed on the site of the future London 2012 Olympics. Yet it is painted with a fidelity reminiscent of  a Rogier van de Leyden altarpiece.

Perry's interest in British Landscape has led to him being featured in BBC documentaries about the legacy of both John Constable and Paul Nash.

The appeal of "When Yellow Leaves" reaches beyond the conventional gallery audience to attract visitors interested in conservation, botany, ecology and the politics of land use. The show represents the continuation of  Perry's remarkable research and body of work produced in his thirty year career as an artist.

Rebecca Hone,  Curator Mascalls Gallery.

Oak Tree Detail 2015 Oil on panel 

Oak Leaves on Mirror 2014 Oil on panel 

"When Yellow Leaves" Exhibition Catalogue.