Muso's art exhibition in Picton

ELENA MCPHEE
Last updated 09:16, May 25 2015
Improvisation is the key to both abstract art and jazz music, Richard Adams says.

Keylines II, an art exhibition by the jazz violinist, opened this month with a performance by his band The Nairobi Trio, and is showing at The Diversion Gallery in Picton. The exhibition follows on from his Keylines exhibition which travelled to London, England, and Auckland earlier in the year. 


Adams said his abstract "colour block" landscapes were inspired by memory and colour, and the idea that the horizon could conjure different memories for different people. 

A lot of his work came from travelling the world with The Nairobi Trio, who have come back to New Zealand from the Thredbo Jazz Festival in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. 

"My paintings do reflect the places I've been and the colours I've seen." 

He worked with different layers of colour and scratching his paintings, so different colours shone through, he said. 

"Experimenting with paint is what I do." 

He was always trying to push the boundaries, and he viewed abstract art the same way he viewed a jazz standard: the painter has the canvas, and then has to create the substance of the work. 

Although he has found inspiration from his travels to the United States and Dubai, Adams was still inspired by the colours around Wanaka and Central Otago, and he loved visiting the Marlborough region. 


"I hadn't been to Marlborough for a while, it's a shame. But it was a real buzz coming down [last] weekend."

read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/68580693/Musos-art-exhibition-in-Picton