The Dog Rehoming Society

Paintings by Sophie Barber, Jeb Haward and Kath Thompson

Three artists, born decades apart, are unified by a direct and uncompromising approach to their work. They have formed a cross-generational alliance founded on their belief in the sustained value of painting.

The youngest of the trio, Sophie Barber states, 'I always have an intention for the painting that I keep in mind, but then the painting has its own idea that I have to let take shape. I paint on the floor and wrestle the wet painting to the wall, I cut or paint sections out if they don’t work and wait to find another place in another painting for them. For me it’s like re-homing a dog. You want the best home for that dog and you don’t want to give it to a stranger or the wrong home.'

Kath Thompson draws inspiration from the ordinary things she encounters in her daily life-- a news item, a room, the telly, a visit to a museum. ‘What I want from my painting in the end is an imaginative transformation to take place through the paint and that the painting has presence, a life.’ Kath taught at the legendary Tunbridge Wells summer school run by Roy Oxlade and Rose Wylie in the 90’s.

As both a former student at the summer school and later Sophie’s teacher in Hastings, Jeb Haward provides a link between generations of artists. Jeb says his paintings may appear to the viewer as clumsy, awkward or peculiar; however, ’…they are meant to be meant, rather than liked, desired, good or contemporary. I intend for them to be authentic, irreducible, and the only option that I have remaining.’

For more information visit https://www.phoenixbrighton.org/events/dog-rehoming-society/