To celebrate the opening of Outside In: Bethlem, at Bethlem Gallery, on 19 August, the exhibiting artists – Daniel and Rodney – are our August Artists of the Month. The exhibition will showcase Daniel and Rodney's refined yet differing perspectives on geometric form. 

Both artists were selected for the exhibition by Simon Martin, Artistic Director at Pallant House Gallery, who was drawn to the idea of two artists using drawing within their work, but to different ends. Both Daniel and Rodney use linear marks to create sophisticated images, but whilst Daniel builds up complex mandala-like structures, Rodney pares back all detail to the simplest of forms. 

Daniel's Metatron works form a series of drawings that all use geometric shapes, lines and vivid colour. With a tightly developed methodology for constructing structures and composing forms, Daniel has created a strong visual identity for his work. "It takes me a couple of months to do one piece, as I do it bit by bit in my own time and space," Daniel says. "You can always find a face in my drawings that for me represents Archangel Metatron, accompanied by the third eye."

Simon says of Daniel's work: "It has a remarkable precision and control, and yet it seems imaginatively free. The abstract forms and colours in his drawings and paintings seem to exist without reference to the physical world and they remind us that the artist can be like a shaman to the unconscious and a deeper spirituality."

Similar in their use of geometric forms to Daniel's pieces, the beautifully precise and simple forms of Rodney's work come from his studies of the world around him and include people, interiors, guns, stereos, boxes and locks. His sophisticated process of distilling complex forms down to something more refined and elegant is carried out quietly and without any formal training. "Rodney's drawings have a powerful simplicity," says Simon. "He seems to distil the physical world down to the simplest scaffold of linear forms."

The exhibition will continue until 11 September 2015, please click here for more information.

On Friday 28 August, Daniel will be facilitating a workshop in the Bethlem Gallery Studio Space, which will look at his work before participants will have the chance to develop their own images based on his methods of working. 

Click here to visit Rodney's Outside In gallery
Click here to visit Daniel's Outside In gallery

Image: Daniel, Archangel Metatron