HUNDREDS of people enjoyed Geoffrey Key’s artwork exhibition at Collect Art in Lymm.

The show which took place on November 12-15 displayed artwork from Geoffrey who is widely considered to be one of the UK's most important contemporary artists.

And Geoffrey, who is soon to be celebrating his 80th birthday - hence the exhibition - says he is over the moon with how the show has been received.

“All this work I have never seen together before,” he said.

“To come in and see so many years’ worth of work together and the gallery has been hyper-selective, it’s like meeting a lot of old friends.

“There isn’t one picture I’m not pleased with. I’m just over the moon with the show.

There was work displayed from the 1960s all the way until 2021 – and his latest collection was inspired by clouds.

Geoffrey, who is based in Irlams ‘o th’ Height, added: “I was doing a series of figures against clouds. The cloud that formed started merging with the figures. Then I suddenly realised that the clouds then started to become waves so this latest series came from nothing.

 

Raffi der Haroutunian pictured with Geoffrey Key

Raffi der Haroutunian pictured with Geoffrey Key

“I never plan anything before. Everything I paint happens and its mainly from the subconscious.

“I can’t swim so I don’t know what the feeling of surfing or swimming is like but I am observant and figures against waves and the sea is magical in my mind.

“It was nice to see the public here. I’ve got a lot of followers in Cheshire and there’s a good collecting feel of people interested in art which is a rarity now.”

Martin Heaps, owner of Collect Art in Lymm welcomed around 70-80 people per day and an estimated 300 overall.

He said: “The weekend went extremely well – more than what we had anticipated.

“We have never run them on a Sunday for instance and never opened until late on Saturday but there was a steady flow of people on every day with new and old people.”

 

Geoffrey Keys work was admired over the weekend - Picture: Steve Jones

Geoffrey Key's work was admired over the weekend - Picture: Steve Jones

 

And Martin – who has been in Lymm for 12 years – said it’s all about bringing a new generation of lovers to Geoffrey’s work.

He added: “That’s the whole point of the show really to try and show Geoffrey’s work to a new audience.

“It’s always good to see old faces too. We always have great support from the customer base which is much appreciated.

“And one collector said it was probably one of the best shows he’d ever seen.”