Refractive Pool: Contemporary Painting in Liverpool is a new exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery which opened in April this year and runs until January 2023. It was borne from the Refractive Pool project which began life in 2019, and has since used events, a book and online resources to explore contemporary painting by Liverpool-based artists, and the diversity of painting styles and art being created in the city today.
The project’s work has culminated in this exhibition, for which Liverpool-based artists Josie Jenkins and Brendan Lyons have selected the work of 21 local artists, with the intention of providing an overview of the community of painters based in the city. A Refractive Pool book is also being released, featuring paintings by 40 local artists, which will also provide a snapshot of Liverpool’s current artistic community, and highlight creative collaboration between the different disciplines of painting, photography and poetry.
The Refractive Pool: Contemporary Painting in Liverpool is the climax of the project’s research into local artists, including meeting many of them in their studios, and getting a feel for who is making paintings in the city and what styles and techniques they are using. Located at the Walker Art Gallery – ‘the National Gallery of the North’ – the exhibition provides a unique opportunity for the younger generation of would-be painters to draw inspiration, and for the rest of us to appreciate the vibrancy and diversity of painters and painting in Liverpool today: