Enigma is a word and concept that seems to occur regularly in reference to the work of Elizabeth Rees. In this exhibition there are two entirely different agendas displayed around that concept: One where enigmatic qualities are distilled within brooding landscapes and the other where a solitary figure stares out at us from an urban landscape that seems to fit snugly yet ambiguously around the figure.

Enigma abounds in each of these new works and holds the audience within an intriguing limbo where space and light and epiphanies play.

The ‘brooding’ landscape paintings are gestural and pared back. They have highly likeable attributes that wear well in the light of Rees’ skilled technique and the simplicity of her statement within these works. They each capture the particular light of a darkish twilight or dawn, and the distance between the darkest dark and the lightest light area within each is profound. These landscapes are like a comfortable garment for Rees and an articulate description of her love of painting. S Bendis a concise example of Rees’ skill for the simple yet explicit depiction of light and land. The darkest areas imply so much and do not need to be explicit. The dark is punctuated beautifully by the lonely road that travels away from view.

The large paintings that feature figures in this exhibition are something new for Elizabeth Rees. She is well known for depicting solitary male figures and/or packs of male figures in a landscape, such as those in her 2003 exhibition Traffic. But the figures in Figure and Landscape are female and they have readable personalities that connect with the viewer via the clue of the background and the posture and placement of the figure in each context. These are urban scapes and the female characters have a definitive gaze.

Colour and light are typically key in the figure works and both of those concerns work conjunctively to set up an ambience that is distinctly feminine. There is a symbiotic relationship between the figure and her landscape. It is a comfortable pairing that speaks of connection and belonging whilst retaining a spicy whiff of the angst and tension from those earlier figure works.