Ours For Keeps

Sue Milburn Exhibition
JMU School of Art & Design, 68 Hope Street
November 1st - 18th, 2005

Reviewed by Lee Stronsjnic

Liverpool-based artist Sue Milburn, in her first major solo show, exhibits a number of her new abstract expressionist paintings, thirteen in all. She is not superstitious!
It is a feast of colour, delighting the eye, with most of the work on display large scale in size.
There are no captions alongside her pictures in this exhibition, just numbers, but there is need for titles with her work. At least she does not use the dreaded 'Untitled', which is a cop-out by any artist using this description.
But she did inform me about one of her pieces having a title, namely 'Target'. This is my favourite painting in the show, due mainly to the detailed integration of a myriad range of colours. Costing a grand this would be a bargain for any art dealer or art collector.
One particular appealing aspect to Milburn's work is her use of incorporating many separate smaller images within a much larger picture, but she also produces small paintings in their own right, often containing intricately detailed brushwork.
"It's difficult to categorise my style of painting," she said, "but generally I strive to capture the viewer's attention through the exploration of colour and form."
As a result, Milburn, who has had work exhibited in Cologne and Berlin in the past twelve months, produces evocative and expressive abstract and abstracted imagery, sea scapes, land scapes, together with compelling images of the sun, which she adores.
Milburn, who runs Liverpool artist collective Red Dot, along with photographer Colin Serjent, will exhibit some of her abstract photographic images in their group show, also to be held at the School of Art & Design, almost immediately following the end of her exhibition. It runs from 22 November until 2 December.
'Ours For Keeps', the title being her tribute to Liverpool FC winning the European Cup for a fifth time in May, and thus keeping the trophy, continues until 18 November. It is open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm.
On a cold, grey day in November, a visit to this exhibition, would be a perfect way to bring added colour into your life.