The exhibition title Shapes For Gods is taken from the painting of the same name. It is the pivotal work amongst a field of twenty-three figurative paintings, a print and a drawing. Shapes For Gods is Lopes’ fourth solo exhibition at Mitchell Fine Art and follows last year’s Encountered, a twenty-five-year survey (which this writer curated) at Orange Regional Gallery and S.H. Ervin Gallery.
There is a continuum between and , with the inclusion of the outstanding painting , 2022-23, which Lopes has slightly reworked from by sharpening the formal elements. He has also included the complex , 2022 in this show. The inclusion of both adds a dominant presence of still-life paintings. It highlights that the artist has tilted his attention away from people and place, by making them less of the focus, while turning his attention to how objects are arranged in space and time.
