Exhibition spotlight: Abstract wonder shines in Paintings in the Key of Life at The Edge

In the venue’s latest exhibition, The Edge hosts incredibly talented Manchester artist Gary Steer and his latest work, Paintings in the Key of Life.

Steer’s work focuses on the diversity and relationships of colour which occurs through ever-changing environments. Romantic overtones allude to poetry and humour at times and seek to give the viewer something to ponder.

Paintings in the Key of Life is Gary’s second solo exhibition and the anticipated follow-up to 2021’s Apricity, which resulted in a sell-out of every piece.

“Moving further into abstraction, this new collection has tastes of modernist geometric forms, colour field painting, cinematic vignettes and retro clothing. There is a sense of solitude to each piece, even in works with multiple figures. The subjects seem frozen in time; waiting or anticipating what is to come, resigned to the inevitable and longing for change” – Kirsty Jukes (@in_the_hanging_garden), writer & art historian.