Following a highly successful joint show in 2016, in February 2018 British painter Jo Oakley will be holding her first solo exhibition with Jonathan Cooper, Chelsea. Featuring new seascapes and still lifes, the exhibition will explore the themes of nature, time, and renewal.
The exhibition charts a journey of discovery for Oakley, whose life long love of the sea recently led her to move permanently from London to Herne Bay, Kent. Many of the works in the exhibition are inspired by the beauty of the south coast of England, and the artist’s observation of the changing nature of the sands and shifting seasons. Oakley’s thoughtful works reflect a joy in nature, featuring the wading birds and sand martins encountered as she walks along the shore each morning. The ocean is an ever-present fascination for the artist, a powerful force and recurring backdrop to her works. Other paintings depict the much-loved shells, books, and antique ceramics that adorn her home and studio, often decorated with wise sayings and proverbial mottos that represent a folkloric memento mori, and which imbue Oakley’s work with a sense of both immediacy and timelessness.