See new work by Richard Combes at 2022nq

An exhibition of Richard Combes’ new work at 2022nq opens on Friday 7 June with an acoustic set from Sheffield duo Slow Club. Combes was born in Manchester and is now an award-winning artist and member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI). Following his election to the ROI in 2004, a feat which exemplifies his skill as an oil painter, Combes’ work has received international acclaim. His oil paintings explore the relation between architecture and people, examining the subtle dialogue created between space and the occupier. The inclusion of a solitary figure, combined with the employment of intrusive perspective, plays with the bounds of personal space and the subject-object relation. Blank walls and abandoned objects are given a presence through detailed rendering and an association that is encouraged by the absence of human interaction. Before moving Stateside to study painting at the New York Academy of Art, Combes studied architecture at the University of Liverpool, an influence that profoundly affects his work, demonstrating mastery of technique and material. The exhibition is curated by Heather Gilberthorpe in association with Dukeries Art Gallery.

Fri 7 – Sat 15 Jun, opening night 6pm Fri 7 Jun, 2022nq, 20 Dale Street, Manchester, M1 1EZ, Tel: 0161 237 9360, Open Tues – Sat, FREE, www.2022nq.co.uk