The Donovan Room opens at Lisa Norris Gallery

On permanent display in one of the gallery’s exhibition rooms, are a collection of the last remaining works on paper by Terence Donovan. It is very fitting that this private body of works on paper, has found a permanent home on the site of the gallery, 72 New Kings Road, where Donovan once co-owned a kitchen and homeware shop called the Merchant Chandler.

Although always busy with his photographic assignments and film direction, Donovan found time to explore other forms of artistic expression. While photography was both Donovan’s job and passion, he was also a committed Buddhist and a black belt in judo. During the course of the 1980s, another passion - painting - began to take hold. Donovan had an art studio in Chiswick which he would visit at the weekends, often meeting up with his friend Peter Blake to ‘talk shop’. He described the moment he started to paint: “There was a moment when I started to be intrigued by the random yet controlled shapes of water on stone. I began to rearrange a pool of water on the stone floor of our kitchen after an accident with fluid. The process of rearranging became fascinating and mysterious and oddly satisfying. It was a point of outstanding excitement when I first tried the process with dense black ink and paper.”

These works embody his fascination with Japanese culture, and are beautifully calligraphic in monochromatic ink. He went on to hold a successful exhibition in London between October and November 1990 at the Albemarle Gallery. He was quoted in the Art Monthly at the time as saying ‘I used to get really annoyed with Hockney when he said that photography was a one-eyed medium, but since I’ve been doing these paintings, I think I know what he means.’

The Donovan Room is now open: Wednesday - Saturday 10-5pm.

For further information, please contact: Lisa Norris Gallery 72 New Kings Road London SW6 4LT www.lisanorrisgallery.com T: 020 7731 8835 E: info@lisanorrisgallery.com