Ian Skelton

Ian Skelton lives in Hastings.

His artwork is mixed media on canvas, panels and recovered wood.

It bows to the influence of greats such as Hockney, Polke, and Rauschenberg - and references more contemporary work such as Basquiat, Peter Doig and the naive folk art of Swedish painter, Ian Rusth, who remains a continuing inspiration.

Abstraction, cartooning and typography encourage the viewer to look at the work again and again to reflect on new glimpses of meaning as they emerge.

Most of the paintings incorporate materials discovered during the refurbishment of the library at Sussex University.

Withdrawn books and 50 years of date stamps (starting 1962) are interesting artefacts in themselves, but weaved into the narrative of the paintings, other meanings are revealed and new connections are made.

Ian worked at the Zebra One gallery in Hampstead, London for over ten years where he painted, framed and sold contemporary art.

His work is in several private collections in Brighton, London, Spain and Australia.