I first met Winston Roeth in 1995. To say that he swiftly became central to the unfolding position and approach of the gallery would be a significant understatement. Winston’s tenacity and focus, his sensitivity and gracefulness have always inspired us. These very traits that describe the man are, not surprisingly, clearly evident in his work.

These are paintings that quietly resolve a multitude of dualities. They are held by an overt geometry and yet they have little to do with calculus. Though they appear to be expressly about colour, to experience them is to apprehend the gymnastics of light. Though they surely seem to depend on measurement, in fact they rest on intuition. Perhaps that is why I have always identified with and loved them. They elevate poetry and intuition over prose and reason. They invite us to be guided by our senses when so often we lack trust in them.

I’ve sat in a lot of artists’ studios over the years quietly drinking it all in. Perhaps I have been in Winston’s studio as regularly as any other and he’s more than half-way round the world. Seems odd to think that this is true, but my sense is that it is the case. In all that time we’ve never had a discussion as to what the paintings mean. It is not because they eschew meaning, rather they are filled with connotation and value and gratefully they exist without any grasping urgency to explain themselves. Because of this openness they also relieve us of performing.

This is the tenth solo exhibition we have made with Winston Roeth and he has been a vital component in many of the curated exhibitions that we remain most proud of including Detox, Points of Orientation, Portrait Without a Face, Deluxe, Pink, Naked, The Architecture of Colour, Raven, Lux, Permafrost and more.
Thanks WR.

Andrew Jensen, November 2024