251 HIGH ST NEW YORK by PEDRO RODRIGUEZ GARRIDO

ADAM GALLERY, 24 CORK STREET until October 5th
Works available for viewing at the Adam Gallery, Bath, by appointment

High St New York, Oil on panel

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60 x 120cm

A slim, dainty image like this cannot covey the impact of this vibrant, vertiginous painting. The viewer is scooped up  in the air and looks down in comfort on a grid of fast-moving traffic and a panoramic view reaching over roofs tops into the far distance. (One of the paintings in this exhibition is View From the Shard - the catalogue is online at the address below).

Garrido's cityscapes, stripped of all ornamentation, are said to have been inspired by urban American artists, such as Edward Hopper. They convey the mood and atmosphere of a place by giving us less, not more. A smudge of paint translates into  a moving car, a bead of colour suggest a traffic light.  His cool, soft tones are a surprise, and especially powerful when he paints rivers, inccluding the Thames .

The restless movement of traffic - and the inclusion of infrastructure, which is usually pushed out of sight by artists - brings energy and wit to many of his works. But February, London draws the eye horizontally along the surface, down an almost empty street, dull and charmless, only red stripes of danger racing towards us. Here we get the sensation of waiting and hoping, waiting and hoping, while the wet pavements gleam and the pale winter light is fading.

February, London, Oil on panel, 80 x 130cm

www.adamgallery.com/

whitney.org/Collection/EdwardHopper