Bold: Stroke of Genius

Aubrey Williams, Shostakovich 6th Quartet, Opus 101, 1981. 

Aubrey William’s ‘Shostakovich’ series, inspired by the music of one of the greatest composers of the mid-twentieth century will be shown in Hales Gallery from 7th June.

Hearing Shostakovich’s music for the first time while being in his mid-teens was for Williams an unforgettable experience that hit him really hard and inspired like no other. The intense reaction to Shostakovich’s Symphony no 1 made the painter feel the colours speaking through composer’s music and stayed with Williams forever. Nearly forty years after hearing it for the first time, the artist felt ready to correspond with Shostakovich’s music with image and in 1980-1 in a burst of creativity, the bold “Shostakovich” series was born.

Aubrey Williams, Shostakovich 14th Symphony, Opus 135, 1981

Immersing totally in the world and art of Russian composer, Williams worked completely free, without any premeditation and let his creativity roam freely while creating the series. The paintings he created during that process make people feel an excitement, both emotional and intellectual.

Aubrey Williams, Shostakovich 10th Symphony, Opus 93, 1981

‘Shostakovich’ series by Aubrey Williams is on from 7 th June to 27th July at Hales Gallery.

All images courtesy of Hales Gallery and The Estate of Aubrey Williams.
Copyright of The Estate of Aubrey Williams.