Subtle and reassuring art at Coventry gallery

FROM a distance his paintings are deceptively simple.

There is a reassuring familiarity in the subject. Shiny, hard-looking, almost metallic, the legacy of the Humbrol enamel paint, much loved by model-makers and cycle repairers.

Up close, the subtlety is revealed. Delicate brushwork, nuanced colours, clever textures to bring out the surfaces of brick, glass and mud.

This is painterly work in a tradition not given public acclaim by institutions such as the Turner Committee for a number of years.

Les Grafton