Leaving the certainty of the rock and arcing through refracted light in a kaleidoscopic rush towards the glistening and implacable surface of the water.
Hearing the muffled crunch of fresh snow under foot in a familiar landscape made new, and to abandon the reality of the everyday for the transience of a fresh cold beauty.
Facing the grind of a mountain road climb, where spring pushes through ice and where, at the summit, exhaustion gives way to ecstatic and exhilarating reward.
To take the purity of these fugitive moments and re-tell them through the slow and meditative process of painting, and to describe memories and meaning through the artifice of picture making is what Cottam has strived to achieve in this latest exhibition.
After graduating from St. Martin’s College of Art in the 80s, Cottam worked and exhibited alongside painters such as Gavin Lockheart and Peter Doig in London and California. In 1990, he was commended in the BP Portrait Award and in 1991, followed this success with winning the BP Travel Award. In 1995 he was the winner of The Carole Foundation at the Mall Galleries in London.
These breathtaking landscapes, full of atmospheric light and colour, confidently celebrate our relationship with the environment and its mystery and ambivalence. Catto Gallery are proud to welcome Haydn back for his third show.
