Petherbridge Alone with Soane is an experience not
Petherbridge Alone with Soane is an experience not to be missed: a miniretrospective of Deanna Petherbridge's drawings in Sir John Soane's country villa, Pitzhanger ManorHouse (Mattock Lane, Ealing, until 3 March). There is surely no other living artist capable of complementing quite so successfully Soane's mixture of elegance, proportion and idiosyncrasy. Petherbridge's large, powerful drawings may be inspired by various kinds of vernacular architecture — from India, Australia and even Tate Modern's Turbine Hall — but their mystery and fascination come chiefly from the wonderfully inventive dexterity with which she transforms mere ink and wash into intricate patterns of steel, wood, brick, stone and above all light and shade. See `Narni Trilogy: III', 2006 (left).
John Spurling
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