DOMINIC BEATTIE: STUDIO @ FOLD
 2015
Paul Carey-Kent

Dominic Beattie’s 2014 show in FOLD’s old space – like all his practice in the last three years – saw him knock up small scale, cheerfully abstract constructions with a DIY aesthetic (see the following choice). Given the run of a more expansive new space, he’s gone bigger and more complex, with four collages up to 10 feet wide which layer spray paint, ink, aluminium tape, paper and varnish, the dominant element being the jazzy use of tape to make fractured geometries with echoes of TV static, sound waves and op art. Beattie thoughtfully provides four chairs in what might have been sculpture’s space as monochrome resting points which encourage longer engagement with the paintings: they’re built to his own design, hand coloured and finished with a rather cool ‘Dead Flat’ varnish.