08/06/2026
John P**e - the sun desires only you
29/05 - 27/06/26
In the smaller back gallery, three big paintings and a large framed drawing dial up the intensity again. The purples and blues in Let’s go find this place are sensational. The purples in particular are really blurred and bled. There are layers of colour and some overpainting which is unusual for P**e, conjuring an atmosphere both under-water and underworld.
The work on paper however, is more flesh pink and green. Figures and buildings are literally pushed to the edge; as mythical birds, lizards and fish describe a past and present full of dread. A constellation of pictographs, inkblots and red “comets” float across white ground. The feeling is that of longing, of warning and of loss. As P**e writes in the last lines of his poem, “…though my mouth surrendered to her wings, saliva full of distant ships sailed away, from my throat, from my voice, my eyes”.
- JS
The show is also available to view on the exhibitions page at jonathansmartgallery.com
For enquires about any of the works contact us via email or DM.
The sun desires only you will run until 3pm 27 June.
John P**e -
Photography by Owen Spargo .spargo
