A Different Green is the first solo exhibition from emerging artist Bella Hoare taking place from 22nd May – 2nd June at The Oxo Tower on London’s South Bank.
The exhibition focuses on over 20 works that explore the beauty of the female form alongside closely observed natural references to forests, leaves and flowers. Successive layers of paint build a final images as well as the visible history of that image’s construction while Hoare’s optimism shines through in a celebration of feminine beauty and power.
Plant life and the natural world are constant touchpoints. Hoare’s series of “green goddess” paintings offer a feminist take on the “green man” figure of medieval Pagan-Christian folklore and can be seen as a reminder of the possibilities of human and, more specifically, feminine intimacy with the natural world.
While her “Glasshouse” paintings feature five portraits of women from The Glasshouse – a social enterprise empowering female prisoners through horticultural training. A passionate supporter of The Glasshouse, Hoare’s paintings are larger than life-size images. The scale throws off viewers’ preconceptions, monumentalising these women from marginalised communities and emphasising their potential for growth. As both individuals and archetypes, they represent the opportunities for renewal offered by the natural world through horticulture and shared experiences.
Hoare’s practice repeatedly turns to themes of renewal and hope. Transitional colour palettes and expanses of lush vegetation hint at the turning of the seasons and the inevitable return of light and life from darkness. Under Hoare’s brush, nature is not a benevolent force but a neutral one, indifferent to human lives but providing us with emotional and physical sustenance if we are willing to embrace its power.
Bella Hoare has independently developed a distinctive style of painting, using modern cold wax medium with traditional oil paint to enable the construction of complex, multilayered works. Her emotional sensitivity to colour is supported by intense study, demonstrated by the numerous hand painted colour wheels and charts lining the walls of her studio.
She lives and works on the edge of the Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire, embedded in a richly forested landscape and is a keen gardener, and a fellow of the RHS. This close bond with the seasonal cycles sustains and enriches her. Throughout childhood, motherhood, widowhood and into a new chapter of her life the annual renewal of the natural world has taught Hoare that it is always possible to create a better future for yourself.
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