The Desire to be Desired: Simon Klein

A new exhibition of oil paintings and works on paper in a variety of media by Simon Klein and curated by Michelle Klein.

Simon Klein uses the material qualities of colour to paint the human figure in loosely constructed surroundings.  He depicts groups of people, often lovers, as though they are in motion - going or coming from somewhere. Some look towards each other, whilst others look out, inviting the viewer to enjoy their embodied dream-like state, as if seeing the world through their gaze.

While the figures stem from his imagination, much of Klein’s subject matter is influenced by his marital relationship. His settings are a synonym for experience - his own or someone else’s. Simon explains that  ‘what happens in a painting is a kind of theatre of life, no matter how abstract’.

Simon Klein has a BA Fine Art (Hons) Slade 1982, and a MA in Contemporary Art Practice, Kingston University, 1997.