David Richard Contemporary is pleased to present Deep Skin & Strokeworld Paintings, a solo exhibition of new and recent paintings by Luke Gray. The work is fresh, spontaneous and almost automatic – the focus is on the brushstroke. Paint is applied quickly with a minimal, yet bold color pallet and broad strokes that flow rhythmically across the canvas. Gray’s work is mature, the marks and compositions are not over worked and convey an inner connection and harmony between artist and canvas. The work is instinctive, artist and canvas have become one, the hand and brush are the communication device between the two and the discussion is not technical, but intuitive. Gray’s paintings evoke tribal and calligraphic symbols, elemental building blocks created with each brushstroke; thus, there is something familiar about his almost primal mark making and language that calls for engagement. Initially, the compositions appear non-objective, but upon further inspection they are illusionistic, requiring the viewer to resolve them for themselves and make their own interpretation.