Caught my eye

Banksy: KEEP OU (image from here)
After so many decades of looking at images, pictures, paintings, what is it that catches my eye?  Often it is familiarity - or perhaps lack of familiarity.  Certainly one aspect which holds my eye is composition.  It does not have to be drama, but there needs to be a reward of some kind.  The image must make me think - and think beyond the question of how it was made.  For me content is queen and must definitely rule over technique.  This is easier for me with painting because I don't paint.  Content is still supreme although more difficult with prints as I am familiar with the techniques, and that can intrigue even if the image is not satisfactory to me.  This is all personal preference needless to say.

Glen Onwin: Shades of Darkness - Light and Colour (Goethe's Theories) Blue, Red, Yellow. Earths Major Cycles (image and title from here)
Individual works are easily overlooked at the RA Summer Exhibition, and one reason why Gallery IV was my favourite is that the hang was relatively sparse.  Works had room to breathe and be themselves.  Glen Onwin's framed pigments (above) were arresting, being the physical embodiment of colour; pigment which was gradually accumulating at the base of each frame.

David Remfry: Chandelirium (image from here)
I very much enjoy being surprised to find that a work which attracts my eye is by an artist who is familiar, but in this case unfamiliar.  This was my delight in seeing David Remfry's painting above.

Stephen Chambers: Portrait of Agatha Roman (image from here)
Portraits can be so interesting, whether the subject is known or not.  Stephen Chambers' Portrait of Agatha Roman is perhaps from his Court of Redonda series, and she intrigued me additionally because her hands seemed to have a separate life of their own.

Sonia Lawson: Homage to Courbet (image from here)
Another portrait which intrigued me was Sonia Lawson's Homage to Courbet, which is so different from Courbet's own self portrait - as well as being different from the cabinet-of-curiosities style of Lawson's with which I have been familiar of recent years.

Tony Bevan: Self Portrait (image from here)
A self portrait which really caught my eye near the end of the exhibition struck a philosophical note - 'I think, therefore I am'.  Tony Bevan has produced several self portraits, and this is not quite a brain, but it caught my imagination.

I liked many other paintings, but these above held my attention for more than the passing pleasurable moment.