Student stories: Searching for the Light

I’m really pleased to announce that Mickos’ inaugural solo exhibition “Searching for the Light” will take place at The JM Gallery, 230 Portobello Road London W11 1JL from the 31 of August to the 6 of September 2022.

Mickos has spent the last two years searching for the light in various places including a stretch of prehistoric woodland to the north of London, composing still lifes in his studio, seeking inspiration from the old masters in the National Gallery and being fascinated by the light inside a box.

The paintings of the light filtering through the trees in Whitewebbs Park dominate the exhibition and they are complimented by the still lifes that were done when conditions precluded walking in the woodlands.

All of these painting reflect Mickos’ love of painting and his attempts to capture the light and his understanding that light is responsible for bringing out both the colour and tone of his visions and creations.

Mickos is fond of pure bright colours that shine in the light and this is particularly apparent in the floral still lifes that glow with colour.

In slight contrast are the mono coloured bas reliefs inspired by the old masters use of light and form. Whilst the old masters would use the actual paint to create a three dimensional effect of form on a flat canvas, Mickos has used light and form to recreate the colours that the old masters used arriving at these sophisticated colours. The first was inspired by the multitude of colours in the blacks of Rembrandt, other versions followed celebrating the primary and secondary colours of Van Eyck, Velasquez and others.

The exhibition as a whole, treads a fine line between the abstract and the real but the final section with the light in a box sculptures goes fully abstract with a tsunami of jewel like colours twinkling in the light. In these works Mickos is painting with light in its purest sense relying on the light rather than the pigment spectrum.

Colour and form are the natural outcomes of “Searching for the Light”, Mickos’ search may yet conclude but this taster is certainly enough to whet the appetite for more.

Mickos has previously exhibited in group exhibitions at the MOMA in New York, the Brick Lane Gallery, Courtyard Arts in Hertford and with the Enfield Art Circle.