The pristine surfaces of these architectonic paintings bear the hallmarks of American post - Abstraction and conceptual practice as they nod in the direction of Barnett Newman and the minimalist sculpture Dan Flavin; but there the affinity of both artists ends.
Up to ten layers of paint - dependent upon Luke Frost's selection of colour tone - results in a surface that recedes into sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, recessive space.
Held in place by one, sometimes two electric 'zips' or 'volts' of contrasting colours that are painted illusionistically, these ostensibly flat areas of painted surface essentially deceive the eye and mind to expand into space which surrounds the canvas.
In terms of scale, the paintings in the Volts series do not envelope the viewer with colour or texture or tone. Instead, they operate a 'push pull' as they sit within architectural contexts creating a window of opportunity for the eye.
They also have a sculptural relationship with the body in terms of the extent of the gaze at relatively close quarters. Frost has in the past experimented with installations using fluorescent tubes and is clearly exploring how the human eye registers or is affected by colour in association with colour and how an image may be retained by the retina on looking away from the painting.
These abstract paintings imply space rather than define it through their mass and surface, and the juxtaposition of contrasting colour hints at a relationship with nature.
Working within the legacy of the St Ives School of Modernists, Frost is attempting to relate colour and form to create a space sensation that has, at its heart, a representational experience that is devoid of gesture and authorship.
Susan Daniel - McElroy
Art Now Cornwall
Tate St Ives
2007