Jon Groom

Jon Groom's work revolves around the three-dimensional aspect of wallpainting and two-dimensional, yet object oriented, paintings on canvas. The work primarily seeks to define that space between colour and proportion; real space. The emotional aspect of colour merging with architectural space remains the prime motive in the work since the late 70s. The Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus München exhibition in 1994 consisted of paintings on wood which evolved towards the absolute i.e. the paint was applied without trace of brush or any visible means of application which resulted in a matt surface, identifiable only as colour. The colour became the object and subject of the painting

In more recent projects, notably the Barragan Museum Mexico in 1997, the whole installation consisted of oil paint on paper, the papers being joined together to form works up to 4 metres x 4 metres in size. Since then this system has been used in a variety of ways including glass, aluminium and stucco. The wallpainting redefines the wall. The Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte München wallpainting for example sought to materialize the objectness of the wall and at the same time to dematerialise. The two blacks used here created a deep black hole experience which when looked at closely implied a physical depth. The materials of the black paint were crucial to the success of this work. The lighter black was in fact iron pyrite, the darker black was ivory black. The nature of the colour in the work relied heavily on the type of material carrying the colour. Likewise in Kerpen the blues were mixed with finely ground quartz which allowed the visual depth of Blueto manifest itself as a fine crystalline material. The inspiration for all wallpainting work comes from the very duality where painting hovers in the mystic space of reality and implied reality. Jon Groom's theory then leads the viewer into an almost three dimensional experience of colour

The work since then has evolved towards a more painterly, more open, freeing-up of the surface. The new watercolours point to new issues which materialize in the future paintings. The exhibition (May/June 2003) at the Kunstverein Aschaffenburg was the opportunity for Groom to experiment with a wall work 7.30 metres x 3.90 metres. The work, comprising of 216 papers, brought together the medium of watercolour and integrated this intimate experience with the architectural space. The process used in such an elementary way was able to stretch the limits of painting and the watercolour medium (which is relatively new to Groom) and it meant the work became positioned between wallpainting and paperwork

This text is composed from extracts of a conversation between Jon Groom and Nanna Hallfeldt held in Munich, March 2003